In the Shadows of War
by Shadow Master
Summary: (BtVS/Star Wars/Other)(Sequel to Divergence) The Clone Wars have begun and Padawan Xander has been assigned to a Jedi Master. What new adventures await? What new secrets will be revealed?
1. Chapter 1

"In the Shadows of War" by Shadow Master

(BtVS/Star Wars Universe/Other)

email: ryley[underscore]breen

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained herein. They are the rightful property of their respective creators and associated companies. I make no money off of this whatsoever and I have no intention of changing this at any point in the future. I write fanfic because it's fun and because there are those who enjoy reading my work. Therefore I would be appreciative if no legal action were taken against me for using the copyrighted material to tell a story. I can assure you that my total net worth is nowhere near big enough to satisfy any of the big wigs who'd probably choose to sue me.

Note 1: HERE IT IS! WHAT MANY OF YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR! THE **SEQUEL** TO 'DIVERGENCE'. I can't say for certain how long this will be or what will be included in terms of 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' the CG animated series, episode three or beyond but I promise I'll do my best to make it a worthy read.

Note 2: One thing to keep in mind though is that I have recently rejoined the workforce and am now successfully employed. As a result I will not have the free time I've had the last three years to write fanfic so I cannot guarantee regular updates. However I will do my best to devote time to this fan fiction when I can.

 _In the Shadows of War_

 _ **Civilian Space Port, Coruscant**_

 _ **Xander's POV**_

"So you're clear on what you need to do?" he said, looking at the Rodian female he'd rescued from the clutches of Davros not too long ago.

"Yes, Jedi Xander. I will do as you ask," she replied with a respectful bow.

"Once you commit the communication code I gave you on that disk to memory, destroy it," he said with utmost seriousness. "If the wrong people got ahold of it you could get sent into a trap, or I could."

He knew he was asking a lot of these ladies after all the trauma they'd been through at the hands of Davros but the mission he was asking them to take on was vitally important. Whether or not things took a step towards his vision coming true would depend on their ability to stay one step ahead of trouble and be able to get word to him when trouble did find them. Still, the ship they'd be using was fast and well-armed, so if they did run into trouble they'd stand a good chance of getting out of it, assuming the opposition wasn't too strong or numerous. Fortunately he'd given them a list of ports that would be able to fuel and service their ship but were also far enough off the beaten path that the odds of them being tracked would be reduced. Plus, with the new paintjob they'd be getting, they'd blend right in with the usual trade ships that they wouldn't raise any suspicions. He truly hoped that they wound up being bored out of their skulls for the duration of the war since that was how long he suspected their mission would have to last, but just the same he'd be ready to help them if trouble found them.

"They will never get the code. I swear it!" she declared with resolve that convinced him she would do all in her power to keep both the disk safe and the information locked in her head.

"Good. May the Force be with you," he said, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder before turning away.

He knew he was going to catch flak from the Jedi Masters for this but, considering the potential consequences of NOT doing it, the lecture would be well worth it, as would any punishment they saw fit to dump on his shoulders. Hearing his com-link beeping on his wrist, he had a feeling that lecture was going to happen sooner than he'd hoped it would.

"Xander here," he said after pressing the button to answer the call.

"Report to the Council chambers, Padawan Harris," Master Windu said over the com-link. "Your new master is here and you have your first assignment."

"I'm on my way, Master Windu," he said before ending the call.

Hearing the engines of a ship taking off, he truly hoped that the Dark Side would be sufficiently distracted by the war that the one who had to be protected could be taken away from the planet that was her home without being noticed. In fact, the more time that passed before anyone there realized that she was missing, the less likely that they would be able to follow very easily. Anyone who wanted her dead would have to put spies in every major port looking for her and those were too many to count. Unless they could anticipate the evasion and hiding strategy of the woman's protectors, it would be random chance alone that could cause things to take a turn for the worse.

Walking over to the speeder taxi that'd brought him to the departed ship, he got inside before telling the driver to take him to the Temple. As the vehicle entered the traffic lanes he began to wonder what lay ahead of him both as Padawan to Master Kuro and the assignment that'd come up. He knew that he'd be doing spy work with his new Master, so the new assignment could be anything from going undercover somewhere to covertly infiltrating a military facility, to simply staking out a specified region of space for anything suspicious. His experience with the whole spying bit was pretty much limited to what he'd seen in the movies and what little his imprinted soldier memories could tell him. The soldier he'd gotten turned into on that Halloween night so long ago had been tough, had been skilled, but spying, black ops, hadn't been his area of expertise. Still, if the rumors around the temple were anything to go by, Master Kuro had been doing the spy stuff for quite a while, so he'd follow her lead.

He had to admit that he was a little curious to see how being a spy in this reality differed from the examples he'd seen in movies and TV shows.

More thought on the matter proved to be pointless since without any information to work with trying to think up strategies or ideas that could prove useful was pretty pointless.

It didn't take long for him to get to the Jedi Temple and, after paying the driver, he took a moment to marvel at the look of it all. No matter how many times he saw it from the outside, the structure and the additional structures around it never ceased to impress him. To think that the Temple had existed virtually untouched for over a thousand years, with only tech upgrades every century or so in order to keep up with the times. It was a testament to the enduring nature of the Jedi Order and a reminder that they would always exist in one form or another.

 _Too bad the same could be said about the Sith,_ he thought as he walked up to the front doors, showing his ID hologram to the guards before proceeding inside. _If the history files in the Archives tells me anything, it's that as long as there are Force users willing to give into their anger, aggression, fear and hatred, the Sith will always return._

As he proceeded to the elevator that'd take him up to the Council chambers, he noticed changes occurring within the Temple. They were subtle ones, not something a random visitor would spot, but to someone like him who'd been living in the Temple for years it stood out as clearly as someone spray painting the inside of your house pink and a smattering of white polka dots. The older Jedi were moving around in groups with data pads in their hands discussing strategy for large scale battles, the ones in their twenties were sharpening their lightsaber skills against sparring droids, and the Padawans were trying to make sense of it all. Some were treating it like all the adventure tales they'd heard coming to life while others were afraid about what'd happen to the Order as well as the galaxy.

Him? He knew that, win or lose, the war would change the galaxy from one end to the other, though he wasn't quite sure yet if it'd be for the better or the worse even if the Republic emerged victorious.

When he was almost to the elevator he sensed a presence trying to sneak up on him but he still picked up on it and, more than that, he recognized it.

"You're going to have to try harder than that to sneak up on me, Rreya," he said without looking back at her. "What's up?"

"Sithspit!" Rreya cursed before she fell into stride beside him. "I thought I was doing a good job concealing my presence."

"Guess I'm just that good!" he said with false arrogance and a pinch of humor.

"Dream on, Xander Windu!" she said with her usual cocky smile. "As for why I'm here, I've been called to the Council chamber to receive my orders."

"Funny coincidence, so am I! Master Windu said my new Master and assignment were waiting for me in the Council chambers," he said in mock surprise before dropping the humor. "Considering what I was told after we all got back, I think it's pretty much a given that Master Kuro is going to be my master and, since she's a spy, that's what I'll be doing during this war."

"Master Kuro? OH! You mean the Dark Woman," she said, momentarily confused about the name. "I hear she can be pretty brutal with her training methods. Lots of people talk behind her back in the Temple."

"Oh, she just annoys their Jedi sensibilities a bit, is all," he said dismissively as they reached the elevator and pressed the summon button. "The Order is all about peace, harmony and finding nonviolent solutions to problems. Having one of their Masters kick her pupils around the training room and test their self-restraint by pushing all their buttons just throws them off their game a bit."

"You're not worried?" she asked, sounding a little surprised.

"If the rest of her training is anything like the lightsaber training we've done together, it'll be rough but I think I can handle it," he said as the elevator doors opened and the two of them entered. "Besides, with all the missions we'll likely be going on, it's not like she's going to be able to put me through six months of hell in a row. She'll only be able to train me in between missions, which means the missions themselves will be my 'breaks' from her lessons."

"You're actually considering going on a spy mission BREAKS!?" she exclaimed in shock at what she'd just heard.

"Well… yeah. I mean, spy work will probably be murder on the nerves but it's more about avoiding getting into a serious fight than anything else," he replied as though it were common sense. "After all, the whole point about spying is not letting the people you're spying on know you're a spy, or that you're doing something they should be paying attention to. It means I'm going to reach new levels of sneakiness if I don't want to be caught and likely killed."

"Then I hope they got a new Padawan waiting for the Dark Woman," Rreya said with a smirk that implied she didn't think he'd last long.

He would've said something back at her but the lift door opened, revealing the Jedi Council chambers where he could see Masters Windu and Kuro but, to his surprise, there were two other people that he hadn't been expecting to be there at all. First was a member of the Jedi Order that he'd seen in passing in the hallways and had even managed to spar with a handful of times since he'd joined up, Jedi Knight Serra Keto. His first immediate thought was that she was just here to receive her own orders along with the rest of them but, judging from the body language he was seeing, it could be something else. The second unexpected person was someone he knew all too well but had truthfully expected to be back on Naboo with their security forces, the Cathar Sarahari. The last time he'd seen her was shortly after his improvised rescue party had been brought back to Coruscant from Geonosis to be treated for their injuries before heading home. He'd thanked her for the help on Geonosis, she'd thanked him for saving her from Davros and then they'd gone their separate ways.

So what was she doing there?

"Padawans Xander Harris and Rreya reporting as ordered, Master Windu," he said with casual professionalism as he bowed towards his former Master.

"Good. Then we can begin the meeting," Master Windu said before pressing a button that caused the windows to go black and a hologram generator to rise from the center of the chamber. "As you're likely aware, with the deployment of the clone army Jedi Knights and Masters have been assigned to lead them. After the period of peace began a thousand years ago, the previous incarnation of the army of the Republic was reduced to a mere symbolic force, with them being assigned to the judicial forces. Instead the Republic came to rely more on the Jedi Order and the local militaries of the various member races to keep the peace. As a result, outside of the Jedi, there is no one capable of leading the clone army with the needed level of skill.

"However not all Jedi will be sent to the front lines to lead troops into battle. Some will aid the war effort as spies gathering information, sabotaging enemy efforts and acquiring items that could aid the Republic in bringing this conflict to a swifter conclusion," Mace said with the authority natural to a member of the Jedi Council. "Padawan Harris, you will be assigned to Master Kuro and support her in her efforts wherever they may take her as a spy of the Republic. This will be your first assignment."

With another press of a button the symbol of the Jedi that had been hovering over the hologram generator changed to display a file with the picture of a baby Hutt on the left side.

"Roughly three days ago Rotta the Hutt, son of Jabba the Hutt, was abducted by an unknown party on Tatooine. Jabba contacted us shortly afterward asking for help in recovering his son. Normally we wouldn't choose to aid Jabba since he's a known gangster as well as a member of the Hutt Crime Families, but this crime provides us with an opening we sorely need." The file changed to a map of space with special focus on the area under Jabba's control. "Dooku's moved quicker than we thought and has already managed to seize control of the major hyperspace lanes connecting core systems to the outer rim. Without a way to supply our forces deployed there, they'll eventually deplete everything they have and be defeated."

"But if we can rescue Jabba's son and get little Rotta home safely, the giant slug might just let us funnel supplies through his territory and maybe the territories of the other Hutt crime bosses as well," he said, finishing the explanation as understanding reached him. "Any leads so far?"

"A few. However time is of the essence since Dooku has also decided to 'help' locate Jabba's son and will almost certainly do whatever he can to hinder our efforts," Windu replied with a nod. "Several clone scout teams have been sent out to neighboring systems and possible hiding places within three days travel of Tatooine as well."

"And when we find out where the little Hutt is, who's gonna be sent to get him back?" he asked, wondering if he and Master Kuro would be given that job.

"It'll depend on whoever is closest to where Rotta is being held captive and what sort of opposition the rescue team will face," Windu replied before shutting down the hologram generator. "I've already provided Master Kuro with the list of possible leads. You depart in one hour."

"Guess I'll have to wait until we see each other next to hear all about the 'respectable people' you talked to on your mission," Rreya said in a 'better you than me' tone.

"Actually, you won't," Master Windu stated to the Twi'lek. "Due to the need for experienced Jedi in the field, all Padawans and younglings that are old enough are being paired with either a Knight or a Master. In this case, you, Padawan Rreya, are being paired with Jedi Knight Serra Keto, who will also be assigned to Master Kuro's spy group. Given the volatile and dangerous nature of being a spy, it has been decided that a team will be more successful than just one or two operatives."

"Just how large is this 'team' going to be?" he asked, a little worried that if it got too big it'd be hard to move about unnoticed.

"Counting you, the team will be six in total," Master Windu replied without pause.

 _Me, Master Kuro, Jedi Keto, Rreya, Erica…_ he thought as he counted up who he figured was on the team but when he got to five he realized there was one person who hadn't been specified but he guessed. "I assume you're the sixth member of the team, Sarahari?"

"Yes. With the war between the Republic and the Separatists, no system will be unaffected by such fierce winds," Sarahari replied with a nod of her head. "On Naboo, as a member of the security force, I can do little to bring this war to an end. As a member of your team, I can do more."

"You do realize that the sort of things we're probably going to be doing is a bit outside what they might've taught you at the Naboo Security Force academy, right?" he asked, wanting to make sure the Catharian knew what she was getting herself into.

"And just what do you think we'll be 'doing', Padawan?" Master Kuro asked with an inquiring tone.

"Sneaking into secure facilities to either steal something or download some data, hang out with the scum of the universe who know things we don't and generally help make the Separatists secrets not so secret anymore?" he replied honestly with a bit of mock casualness. "You know: FUN stuff."

"Do you think this is a game?" Master Kuro asked with a disapproving tone.

To that question his levity dimmed since he knew he had to answer truthfully and seriously. "No. War can never be a game," he replied, looking his new master straight in the eye. "It's horrible and even if your side wins you come out of it changed in countless ways. But if you're to come out of it without losing yourself to the horrors war produces, you have to seize the good times, the happy moments, when you can."

It was the truth.

While others might not have called it that, the battles he fought alongside the Scoobies were akin to an ongoing guerilla war with no end. With all the horrors they saw and the demons they fought, most people would've cracked or run away to someplace safer but the Scoobies held the line with friendship as well as the good times in between battles. They fought to protect their friends, they fought motivated by the happiness they'd experienced and they fought through the darkness for the happiness they'd experience in the future. If they didn't focus on the good times, if they didn't fight for them, then they would've been crushed a long time ago like many other human hunter groups did within months of beginning their campaigns against demonkind. Desiring revenge against the demons and the vampires could only fuel someone for so long. More than that, such emotions tended to blind a person to the important things in life. Fighting for your friends, fighting with your friends, fighting for all the people worldwide who had so much to look forward to and for what your group had to look forward to was superior in terms of motivation.

"True enough," Master Windu said with a half nod. "You'll depart aboard the 'Shinigami' within the hour to begin looking for information on Jabba's son. Master Kuro already has the co-ordinates of a few possibilities."

This was when his anxiety spiked as he knew there was one little problem with those plans and he knew the others sensed it.

"Um… the thing is, Master Windu… Master Kuro…" he said carefully, scratching the back of his head with unease. "…the 'Shinigami' is kinda… unavailable at the moment."

Surprise dominated most of the group but from the two masters he got both frowns as well as stern looks. They didn't even have to ask 'what do you mean' because he could see it in their eyes and in their body language. Lying wasn't an option since he was nowhere near skilled enough to keep his two teachers from picking up on his deception so he went with the truth.

"A little while ago I asked some of the ladies I rescued from Davros who'd been treated for their injuries here on Coruscant to go to Tatooine on the 'Shinigami' to pick some people up for their protection," he explained, trying not to be intimidated by the looks being sent his way.

"Who?" Master Windu asked in an even tone.

"Shmi Skywalker and the Lars family," he replied without any hesitation in his voice or weakness in his position.

"Why?" Master Kuro asked, not revealing any more than Windu had.

"It's a matter of record that Anakin has the highest midi-chlorian count of the entire Jedi Order since it was founded. That means that he has the potential to become the most powerful of us and be capable of things we can't imagine," he replied as the unease disappeared from his voice. "At the same time, though, if he was ever converted to the Dark Side he would become a Sith to rival Exar Kun and Naga Sadow. That's reason enough to take measures to ensure he doesn't Fall. Based on what I found out on Tatooine someone is already targeting Shmi for death and that would definitely plant one helluva seed for turning him into a Sith. So I figured load them all on the 'Shinigami' and have them stick to the remote sectors and only pop into civilization when they need refueling, repairs or the essentials."

"That was not your decision to make. That ship is the property of the Order and I hardly think that recently traumatized women will be sufficient to keep her safe if your suspicions are accurate." Master Windu said with rising disapproval in his voice.

"That's why I told them to stick to the hyperspace routes less travelled rather than load up on weapons. I didn't tell them to fight. I told them to hide," he said, standing by his decision. "Regardless of who they are, the Sith have to use the same tools and resources the rest of us do. By keeping themselves from populated areas where they could be seen or travel routes where they'll pop up on sensors, the only option the Sith Master will have is to use the Dark Side. I doubt he has the time to spend in meditation searching all of known space for one ship."

"And what happens if they get into trouble? What happens if they're found?" Master Kuro asked, pointing out the worst case scenario.

"I worked out a method of communication that'll let them tell us if they need help," he replied, not letting her words shake him. "They'll put an ad in one of the more popular net sites using a combination of words, numbers, symbols and colors to let us know their status. On the surface to anyone else it'll look like any other ad but for us it'll let us know how much trouble they're in, where they are and where they're headed. As long as we check it regularly, we should be able to get them help no matter where they are."

After he finished the two Jedi Master's started doing the whole 'speak with looks and body language' that he had noticed all Jedi of that rank did when in groups. He'd tried to decipher it a few times but eventually he concluded that it had to be something that people learned by the time they got to that age. Still, even if they decided to shut down his plan, the 'Shinigami' still lacked the slave circuits that would allow them to take control of it. Add to that once they hit hyperspace, it'd be near impossible to track them, so they'd have no choice but to let things play out.

"It would seem that we have no choice but to let your efforts play out, Padawan," Master Windu said, sounding mild-to-moderately displeased. "However in addition to your training in the ways of the Jedi Order, I think Master Kuro and I are in agreement that you will also be taught to consult with those higher in the chain of command before taking such bold actions."

"Indeed. As to the matter of the ship we require, I believe I know where we can get one," Master Kuro said with a look that implied she'd make sure to drive the point home with him. "I trust you had the sense to remove everything of importance from the 'Shinigami' before it left?"

"Of course. Everything I'll need to keep up the 'Slade Ordo' personae going plus a few odds and ends we picked up after leaving Coruscant I took off beforehand," he replied with a nod. "Sure, I'll need a new lightsaber seeing as how Dooku trashed my old one. Guess I'll have Erica whip one up."

"No, you won't," Master Kuro said with a tone of finality, "but first we'll get the ship. Meet me in the speeder hanger in thirty minutes. Change into something… civilian."

With that the Jedi Master that some of the more traditionally minded members of the Order referred to as 'The Dark Woman' strode out of the Council Chambers, leaving the rest of her team and Mace Windu behind. Her words had left more than a few question marks in his mind but that was pretty much expected with teacher-student relationships.

 _I probably won't be able to understand her until I'm ready to be promoted to Jedi Knight,_ he thought with a mental shrug.

With that he led the group to the lift so that they could go to their quarters in the Temple and change clothes.

It was only then that he realized that, aside from the Mandalorian armor he used to pose as 'Slade Ordo', he only had customary Jedi clothes.

This could be complicated.

 _ **A Speeder in the Flow of Traffic**_

 _ **Rreya's POV**_

"Soooo… you think anyone's clued in?" she asked as they flew along to their destination, their cargo securely tied on the back.

"I doubt it. We don't look like Jedi or people who work at the Temple and I'm not exactly well known, so even if someone sees me they won't be able to ID my species, much less anything else," Xander said from her right, not sounding worried at all. "So long as we don't start singing the Jedi national anthem at the top of our lungs, we should be able to get wherever we're going without any trouble."

"The Jedi don't have a national anthem," she pointed out with a little confusion.

"I know. We'd have to make it up as we went along and that'd guarantee that it'd be so bad that anyone who heard it wouldn't be able to ignore us and would probably try to find out who was doing the singing, so they could complain," he said in a matter of fact tone of voice. "That'd blow our cover real quick."

"You have a strange, strange mind, Xander," she said with a shake of her head, causing her lekku to sway back and forth a bit.

"Helps with the unconventional thinking that keeps the enemy guessing what you're gonna do next," he said with a half grin as Master Kuro began her approach to one of the lesser used docks for starships.

"As long as you don't leave your allies guessing as well, it should prove useful," Master Kuro said as the speeder came in for a landing.

Getting out, she looked around, trying to figure out who they'd be borrowing a ship from so they could start looking about for clues as to where the Hutt gangster's son was located. Personally she seriously disliked Hutts since they were one of the main species that often trafficked in slaves and, in particular, female Twi'leks such as herself. She was safe enough since she was a Jedi and had training in the use of the Force but other females of her race weren't so fortunate. When she thought of what was being done to them, she wanted nothing more than to swoop in and free them all by any means necessary. Sadly she was not skilled or strong enough to do such a thing on her own and she had little doubt that the Jedi Council would forbid such action. It wasn't that they condoned such treatment but that they'd consider the task to be futile since there'd always be a market for female Twi'lek slaves.

"So where are we exactly?" Sarahari asked as they followed Master Kuro.

"It's a dock that's owned by an assortment of senators and Jedi Master J'oopi She. They comprise a group often referred on the Holonet as the 'Republic Group', though their names have not been discovered, much less released to the public," Master Kuro replied as she took a right turn. "They're a clandestine organization of covert loyalists who work together to restore the reputation of the Galactic Republic by uncovering the corrupt and treacherous in the Galactic Senate. They also oppose Supreme Chancellor Palpatine since they find his actions to be contrary to the spirit of the Republic. Using various holding companies, both real and fabricated, they're able to get to important Core worlds without drawing attention to their actions."

"Sounds like the sort of people who'd have a ship or two to spare," Xander said, sounding confident in their course of action.

"Don't expect it to be free. While they might have solid backing, they can't afford to throw too much money around or else it'll draw the wrong kind of attention," Master Kuro warned as they arrived at a door that she knocked on in a specific pattern. "Still, I'm confident I can reach an understanding with them."

A few minutes passed but eventually the sounds of the lock on the door disengaging could be heard and then the door slid open to reveal a human woman with gray eyes, wearing a fur-trimmed brown jacket, cargo pants and strapped boots. With blaster carbine rifle strapped to her back she looked like she could handle the majority of the armed thugs that populated the less law abiding areas of the galaxy but not those capable of handling superior numbers with relatively small groups.

"Shit. So the bosses weren't lying. It really is you, Kuro," the woman said, sounding like she expected things to get bothersome.

"Yes, it's me, Aren," Master Kuro said in a completely business tone of voice. "Can we go inside? We have some business to conduct."

Without verbally saying anything Aren stepped aside to give them the room needed to enter the building. A little strange but still in keeping with a clandestine group that preferred to avoid getting noticed by those in power, so she didn't pay it any further mind. Once inside she could see the usual bits and pieces you'd expect to find at such a place, ranging from maintenance equipment to cargo containers and finally scattered data-pads containing a variety of information both interesting and boring. After a few twists and turns they arrived at a room where two men waited for them, one with blonde hair and blue eyes while the other had gray hair and hazel eyes.

"So what can we do for the Jedi Order today, Kuro?" the blonde haired man asked, sounding like he expected to be amused by the answer.

"We're in need of a ship, Jadak. One that's not connected to the Jedi Temple but capable of traversing to… dangerous places and getting away from them relatively unscathed," Jedi Master Kuro replied, not sharing the man's interest in amusement. "It must also be appropriate as the ship of a soldier for hire in that it is armed but not too heavily. Do you have any you could loan us?"

"Hmmmmm… planning on going places you're not supposed to be, eh? Doing some spying?" Jadak asked, sounding like he was getting an idea of what they'd be using the ship for. "Not many ships would be up to a job like that. Fortunately for you my ship, the Stellar Envoy, is here and currently without assignment. She's ship enough for you."

"Then you'll let us borrow your ship?" Master Kuro asked, sounding interested. "What's the fee per month?"

"Now, now, now! I said my ship was available," Jadak chastised with a shaking finger. "I didn't say that I'd give her to you. After all, me and Reeze have put a lot of hours of work into the girl 'upgrading' her systems. It wouldn't be smart for us to just give her to strangers to do whatever they needed to do with her, even if they are Jedi."

"What would it take for you to allow us use of your ship?" Master Kuro asked, not giving away what was going on inside her head.

"Simple: me and Reeze go with you wherever you go," Jadak replied with a smile of impending victory. "Agree to that and we'll help you however we can. Interested?"

"You do realize that we'll be going on missions that will require the utmost secrecy?" Master Kuro asked, weight added to the words. "Anyone involved will be forbidden from discussing what they experienced or even admitting that it happened. Ever. That's not even getting into the danger involved. Do you truly wish to be involved in such matters?"

"We work to expose the corrupt and make sure they get what's coming to them. That isn't exactly safe work since they usually want to keep things going business as usual," Jadak replied with a 'do you really think you can scare us off' look. "That means ships, thugs and blasters of all shapes and sizes coming at us, usually with the idea of turning us into smoking corpses."

"You ever gone up against large numbers of battle droids of various configurations or a Sith Lord?" Xander asked, pointing out to Jadak that his usual opponents were a league below what they'd be encountered on their missions.

"Can't say we've ever faced a Sith Lord but scrap heads are easy enough to take down if you know where to shoot them," Jadak said, showing he wasn't taking their warnings lightly. "So long as you don't do anything too crazy, I'll take you guys wherever you need to go and be there waiting when you need to leave."

For a moment silence filled the air but then, with a sigh, Jedi Master Kuro reached a decision. "Very well. You and your friend will remain the crew of the ship but if for some reason you wish to withdraw from this arrangement, I expect you to at least have a few suggested alternatives we can use," The Dark Woman said in a 'take it or leave it' tone of voice. "When it comes to spying, time is a very valuable commodity."

"Reasonable enough. I know a few places where you can get a respectable ship for a low enough price," Jadak said with a nod in agreement with the terms of the deal. "How soon do you need to leave?"

"The sooner, the better. We've got a kidnapped Huttlet to locate and a lot of space to cover," Kuro replied while not being overly specific. "We've brought what we need for our assignment. All that's needed is for you to prepare your ship for departure."

"You were that certain we'd agree to let you use one of our ships?" Jadak asked with a raised eyebrow of inquiry.

"I was confident that so long as we repaid you in an acceptable manner that we'd get a ship." Kuro replied with a knowing smile on her face.

"Well, in that case, the 'Stellar Envoy' will be ready for liftoff within the hour," Jadak said as he got out of the chair he'd been sitting in. "Here's hoping you have a destination ready for me by then."

It was only after their team was left that Xander Windu decided to say the stupidest thing she'd heard him say in a while.

"We're not gonna let'em keep the name 'Stellar Envoy', are we?" Xander asked, sounding quite against the idea. "I mean, it's supposed to be the ship of 'Slade Ordo', soldier for hire. The ship ought to be named something cool or mysteriously intimidating."

"Then you can make the request for the temporary name change, Padawan," Master Kuro said in a tone that implied she'd not involve herself in the least. "It'll be up to them to accept or reject it though. I won't force it."

"Shouldn't be too hard. What guy doesn't want his ship to have a cool name?" Xander asked rhetorically, sounding confident that Jadak would agree with the new name.

 _ **Hanger of the Republic Group**_

 _ **Xander's POV**_

"Sleek, functional, doesn't stand out and, according to you, one of the fastest ships of its size out there," he said as he looked over the disk shaped ship. "Should fit fine with the image we want people to have in their heads."

"And what image would that be?" Captain Jadak asked as he stepped off the boarding ramp.

Walking over to one of the containers that hadn't been loaded, he popped it open before taking out the Mandalorian helmet part of the armor that made up the 'Slade Ordo' personae.

"The image of the Mandalorian soldier for hire known as 'Slade Ordo'. There's always a market for a professional soldier and with the war there'll be people looking to hire on both sides and that's not counting the crime bosses who might want to hire a Mandalorian warrior," he replied, holding up the helmet for the starship captain to see. "If we pick and choose employers just right we can get good info on Dooku and his army of battle bots. Info that can shorten the war and save who knows how many lives."

"Well, you're right about people wanting to hire you," Jadak said with a look of moderate surprise. "Word's gotten around about what happened in Davros' little underground arena. Someone manages to do that much killing in so… graphic… a way and they'll get offers for anything ranging from assassination jobs to bodyguard duty."

"I know. We'll only be choosing jobs that'll either help the Republic or keep up the kind of rep 'Slade Ordo' needs to have in order to get the jobs we'll want," he said as he put the helmet back into the container before locking it up. "If any others try to hire us, we'll tell'em that we've got another job waiting and we don't accept more than one offer at a time."

"And if they won't take no for an answer?" Jadak asked, pointing out that some employers wouldn't take rejection well.

"Then we 'convince them' that pressing us for a yes would not be in their best interests," he replied with a firm look. "If it means making it so that they wind up wanting a hospital more than they want to hire us, then I don't mind at all."

"Don't welcome causing others suffering, Padawan," Master Kuro warned, emerging from a darkened area of the hanger. "As you said earlier we cannot allow this war to change who and what we are. We are JEDI. We are keepers of the peace."

"I'm not going to go looking for a fight or hurt anyone I don't have to, but acting too Jedi-like will ruin the charade, making it a lot harder to do the spying or the sabotaging," he said as he turned to his current teacher. "After all, there can't be too many soldiers for hire or mercenaries that act just like Jedi out there."

"None last I checked. Most are just interested in getting paid and staying alive," Jadak said, sounding half respectful and half disapproving. "The 'Envoy' is ready for launch Kuro. All we need is you and yours on board and a destination."

"Then let us proceed," Kuro said as she walked towards then onto the boarding ramp.

Stacking the containers of clothes, equipment and Mandalorian armor that were his, he lifted them off the ground with the Force before making them follow him. While he might've had trouble lifting something telekinetically in the past, now it was easy enough to establish locks on his pile of things, lift them a foot or three off the ground and pull them behind him.

Going up the ramp, he had to admit that, for a ship that was over three decades old and almost within range of its fourth, the ship was in pretty good condition. Sure, there were signs that some patch jobs had been done or something 'good enough' was put in place of a professional job, but Jadak didn't look like the type that liked to play Russian Roulette with his life. Therefore the ship had to be space worthy without any problems that needed immediate tending to or any that were expected to pop up in anything less than a few weeks time. Seeing Kuro turn to the left, he followed her while hearing Rreya and the others following him all the while, doing what he could to commit what the layout of the ship to memory.

"We'll be putting you lot up in the main hold," Jadak said from behind. "The crew quarters on this ship were only meant to manage three people at a time. First chance we get we'll try to get a few things to make them more livable but until then, try to bear with it."

"We will be fine, Captain," Master Kuro said over her shoulder in a cold tone of voice. "This is not a vacation, after all."

A little chilly but correct nonetheless.

They were now spies of the Republic and the Jedi Order with a mission to root out the secrets of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, to thwart their ambitions and restore peace to the galaxy. To that end they had to be willing to endure hardships, deal with discomforts and push themselves past whatever pain might come their way. In that respect not having beds to sleep in was pretty inconsequential so, as they reached the main hold, he looked before choosing the spot that was best from a strategic point of view. Piling his stuff up against the nearest wall, he turned to see others choose their own spots, only a little puzzled to find both Erica and Sarahari covertly sending glares at each other as they adjusted their choices by varying degrees. It confused him a bit since, to his knowledge, neither had a reason to dislike one another, but he just shrugged, figuring that if it wasn't bad enough for them to speak of it or throw a punch, he'd let them resolve matters.

If it got bad enough to interfere with the carrying out of their mission, he had a feeling Kuro or Keto would set them straight.

If they didn't, he would.

"So, you got a destination in mind?" Jadak asked, obviously eager to get going.

"Tatooine. While the Hutt gangsters have no small list of enemies thanks to their illegal enterprises, most of their enemies number among their own kind," Master Kuro replied once she was finished setting down her things. "According to the latest information out of that region, Jabba's main rival is a Hutt by the name of Boorka. He's wanted to get rid of Jabba for years and kidnapping the gangster's son would provide a good bargaining chip. Jabba's not in his prime anymore and, given his species' low fertility rate, it's unlikely that he could sire another heir anytime soon."

"And if he doesn't have the kid?" Rreya asked, pointing out a distinct possibility.

"Then he'll have some idea of what happened and where we can start looking next. It's even possible that he provided the kidnappers with the Huttlet's travel route," Kuro replied, not sounding uncertain in the least. "In case you've forgotten, the planet is essentially one large desert with scattered rock formations. The odds of being able to finding the Huttlet's armored skiff in the middle of nowhere are slim unless you know where to look."

"Makes sense," he said with a nod. "And if he's any kind of gangster, he'll have done some research on whoever he sold the info to. What do you think are the odds that he'll give the info to us without a fight?"

"Not at all if there's nothing in it for him," Master Kuro replied with a shake of her head. "Gangsters are motivated by greed and self-interest, after all. Fortunately Master Windu has made available several caches of valuables, at least one of which should appeal to the Hutt. Bribery, however, will only be employed if more… frugal methods prove ineffective."

He didn't know what that meant but he figured it was something along the lines of the Order not wanting to waste resources if they could get what they wanted for free.

"Well then, get ready for lift off, 'cause we're off to Tatooine," Jadak said as he left the main hold, presumably for the cockpit, to get them on their way.

He hoped the ship was fast because he had a funny feeling that time was not on their side.

 _ **The Private Chambers of the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic**_

 _ **Palpatine's POV**_

 _So… he has left Coruscant. How troublesome,_ he thought as he turned off the display that had up until a few seconds ago had shown the 'Stellar Envoy'. _Normally I would not bother with such an insignificant Jedi but Yoda's spawn has done what none of his pathetic Order has managed to do: thwart my latest efforts to pull Anakin Skywalker to the Dark Side._

Indeed, the boy was proving to be something of an anomaly and such things could prove to be quite annoying at the most inconvenient times.

No, he would not ignore this troublemaker only for him to once again hinder his plans.

With the press of a button he secured his chambers both from unwanted entry as well as all known means of eavesdropping or spying. He was confident that he could construct a suitable excuse if any of ignorant politicians or staff members inquired about the loss of contact. After pulling his hood over his head to conceal his features, he operated the control panel to open a line of communication to someone quite qualified to dispose of the Padawan nuisance on its way to Tatooine. Yes, the Dark Side of the Force had already told him where young Xander was going but, even if it hadn't, the choice was obvious. Boorka, after all, had been the one to provide Dooku's forces with the route Jabba's armored skiff would be taking back to the palace and, while there had been no report that the Hutt had gone snooping where he shouldn't, the possibility remained.

Two Wamp Rats with a single stroke.

"What is your command, my lord?" his secret general asked from bended knee, like a true subordinate.

"A group of meddlers travel to Tatooine to learn the location of Jabba's son from Boorka the Hutt," he replied, allowing his true self to rise to the surface. "It is possible they might succeed. Ensure that they do not and SILENCE the Hutt."

"Then it is time?" his secret general asked, sounding quite eager to finally step out of the shadows.

Understandable.

Up until now he had arranged it so that the general could issue orders to his droid army from a distance through heavily encrypted communications, with his droid officers strictly programmed to never refer to their supreme commander by name. This had caused his secret general quite a bit of frustration as the warrior had been of the opinion that he could serve much better from the front lines rather than from the shadows. Up until now he had chosen to maintain the status quo, but now… now it would seem that the time had come for the Republic to see the face of the one that would sow terror into their clone army.

"Yes. The time has come for you to take the stage and show all why you should be feared," he replied with a malevolent smile on his face.

"It shall be done, my lord," the general said and the transmission was terminated.

Standing up, he walked up to the window that offered him a view of his domain and he imagined what it would look like after his plans had finally reached fruition.

He could not help but chuckle in dark glee at what his mind conjured.

 _ **Tatooine System, Aboard the Steelar Envoy**_

 _ **Jedi Master Kuro's POV**_

"So, what's the plan?" Padawan Xander asked as they watched the planet of Tatooine getting closer but not yet close enough for atmospheric friction.

"You will be taking the lead. Your identity as 'Slade Ordo' has already been established and is spreading through the criminal underworld. Boorka will be more receptive to a known quantity than to an unknown," she replied as she turned her head to him. "Show him respect in the beginning, make him think you're impressed by his position and power, but at the same time don't flatter him too much or it'll make him suspicious."

"Got it. No one likes a bootlicker or trusts one," Xander said before a look of disgust manifested on his face. "But seeing as how Hutts don't have feet, much less boots, and I'm even less likely to lick whatever they do have."

She couldn't help but roll her eyes at her pupil's attempt at humor, especially since she would have to deal with it for the foreseeable future. Through her sporadic nightly training sessions with the young Jedi she'd gained a rough measure of the young man and, while sharing some of Skywalker's more infamous traits, there was a decent amount of restraint and caution present. Both were good traits to have and, while she would prefer to dictate the pace of his training, she imagined the war would serve to teach him the important lessons through firsthand experience well enough. She would just have to make sure that he didn't get in over his head too much because experience gained through war held the risk of turning fatal if one wasn't careful enough.

"Erica and Sarahari will accompany you as your subordinates," she explained, continuing the briefing. "This will show that you are skilled and possess charisma enough that others are willing to follow you. It will be especially impressive that you will be seen to have a Catharian's loyalty, since it is not easily earned."

She could sense Rreya's dislike of this arrangement but it was for the best since, among the Hutt clans, female Twi'leks were regarded as slaves. To have one show up and not act completely submissive as most slaves did would either arouse suspicion or contempt towards 'Slade Ordo', weakening Xander's bargaining position. Seeing Jedi Keto place a calming hand on her Padawan, she took comfort in seeing the negative feelings disperse back to the dark place from whence they came.

"Your cover story will be that you've come in pursuit of a thief that's been known to work for Boorka from time to time. Jedi intelligence, however, has already confirmed him to be elsewhere and that it is unlikely that he'll return to the Hutt's palace anytime soon," she said as the ship began to penetrate Tatooine's atmosphere. "Naturally Boorka will tell you this but you will tell him that you will stay until your target returns. It is unlikely that the gangster will have any problem with this and might even approach you for a job. Feel free to make him think you might be interested but don't commit to anything."

"No problem there," Xander said, understanding the guidelines as she'd laid them out.

"Don't bother trying to ask about the abduction since Boorka will likely not approve of anyone trying to help his rival. Instead merely listen to those around you," she ordered, secretly inserting some training into the mission. "While the smarter ones will know enough to keep what they know to themselves, there are bound to be some incapable of restraining themselves from gloating of their master's victory over Jabba. If you learn nothing by the time the suns set, return to the 'Envoy'. We will then have Erica use her ability to turn invisible to infiltrate Boorka's palace and access his database. With luck she will be able to uncover something we can use in our search."

"And if it turns out that Boorka had nothing to do with the kidnapping of Jabba's son?" Sarahari asked, pointing out a valid possibility.

"Then we will move on to the next likely source of information and begin our search anew. Possibly with someone known to deal in black market spaceships or the modifying of said spaceships," she replied, conceding that it was a possible outcome. "I know of one who is quite diligent in keeping a close watch on his competitors so as to surpass them. Now I think it is time that you get properly dressed and into character, Padawan. We will be landing shortly."

"Right," Xander said and he retreated to the main hold where his Mandalorian armor and weapons awaited him.

While surprisingly complete given how Mandalorian warriors tended to value their armor, it still lacked a few bits and pieces, such as a Z-6 jetpack. While not absolutely necessary, it would help to sell the idea that Xander was indeed a Mandalorian warrior and silence most of the skeptics who'd accuse him of being a fake. She would have to include known Mandaloarian tactics and strategies in with the curriculum of Jedi teachings she already had in mind. Until such time as 'Slade Ordo' finished serving his purpose, it was in their best interests to take whatever steps they could to ensure the identity's credibility in the eyes of the galaxy.

"Set the Envoy in Mos Osnoe. While I'd prefer someplace closer, Boorka's palace doesn't have a landing pad of its own," she ordered Captain Jadak once they successfully made it to the planet's lower atmosphere.

"Consider it done," Jadak said as he began to adjust the Envoy's course accordingly.

Turning to leave the cockpit, she began to consider her own activities once they set down on the planet. While she'd considered going along with her Padawan, as well as adding Jedi Keto to the group, she decided against it in the end. While not as an attractor of the spotlight as some members of the Jedi Order, her accomplishments had earned her some notoriety amongst the unlawful of the galaxy, meaning there was a chance she could be identified by one of Boorka's men. While something of a prodigy in lightsaber combat, Serra Keto didn't have the needed experience to keep her status as a Jedi a secret from the scum they'd be mingling with.

It would be far better for her, Keto and Rreya to remain aboard the Stellar Envoy as backup should things become too complicated for her Padawan's team to handle on their own.

 _Still, there will be times when we will need everyone to accomplish out mission,_ she thought as she walked down the corridor of the ship. _I will have to work with Keto to teach her how to hide the various tells that Jedi give off without realizing it. It will be difficult, acting contrary to how she's been taught, but it will be necessary so long as she works as a spy rather than a front line soldier. It is a spy's job to not stand out, to not reveal that they are a spy in the first place, and that means blending into their surroundings whatever they might be._

A part of her was irritated that she'd been assigned a team rather than being allowed to work solo, especially since they were all amateurs when it came to spying during wartime. Nevertheless, those were her orders and, while not intentional, she knew the underlying reason for being made Padawan Xander's Master. The young man was powerful thanks to the contributions from Masters Yoda and Galia, implying that he could be a great ally or a deadly enemy, depending on how his life went. By the Padawan's own admission he had tapped into the Dark Side of the Force in response to the provocations of the late criminal named Davros and, while Xander had pulled back, the residual effects remained. She had little doubt that in the back of his mind the darkness whispered to him, tempted him, trying to get him to partake of its 'power' once more. If they were at peace it wouldn't be such a concern, since time at the Temple, in meditation and with counsel from the Masters, would cause the whispers to vanish.

But they were fighting a war and such times were rife with experiences that would make a relapse all the more likely.

Loss of friends, the death of innocents and defeats that would lead to the prolonging of the war were things that could not be avoided in such climates.

 _It is my secret mission to keep him from the darkness and, should I fail, ensure that his career as a Sith ends before it has a chance to begin,_ she thought grimly as she pondered her secret duty. _I suppose the Council considers it appropriate considering my alias 'The Dark Woman'. I suppose it is at that._

Her devotion was to the Order and its principles above all else.

If Padawan Xander Harris proved to be a threat, she would eliminate him without hesitation.

 _ **A Rock Path on the Planet of Tattoine**_

 _ **Sarahari's POV**_

 _This place is fouler than I thought it'd be,_ she thought as she did her best to breath through her mouth. _I pray we do not need to remain here for very long._

Indeed, as a daughter of Cathar her sense of smell was quite acute and, whether it was Mos Osnoe or Boorka's palace, they would both smell equally repugnant to her. It hadn't taken her long to take what steps she could to keep from catching the scents of everything that'd ever travelled the same route as her group or used it as an impromptu toilet. All the while she made sure to maintain an acute awareness of her surroundings, keeping her hands close enough to her weapons that she could fight at a moment's notice. A vibroblade was sheathed and secured to her back beneath her coat while a DC-15 side arm blaster was strapped to each of her legs, ensuring that she would be deadly at close and mid-range.

Coupled with all that she had learned of unarmed combat, both from her own people as well as the Naboo Security Forces, it would take something rather impressive to defeat her.

Looking ahead as Boorka's palace got closer, she could see a quartet of Gamorrean guards hefting their usual weapons and appearing about as intelligent as they looked. True to the image he was trying to convey, Padawan Xander did not break stride or give off any sign of being intimidated by them, but nonetheless stopped a few feet in front of them.

"I need an audience with your boss Boorka. Arrange one," Xander said with a slight distortion effect altering his voice through the helmet's external speakers.

Three of the tusked cretins aimed their weapons in their general direction while the fourth waddled over to communications interface installed to the right of the palace's main doors.

 _Filthy, disgusting, creatures!_ she thought with a restrained growl of distaste. _Fighting is about all they're good for and how they fight can at best be called brutal and uninspired._

It took a few minutes but eventually the fourth Gamorrean guard returned and grunted out something in his language but she couldn't make any sense of it.

"The tusk-face says Boorka will see us but that they'll be keeping an eye on us," Erica said, translating for those that didn't speak or understand Gamorrese.

"Understood," Xander stated with a slight nod of his helmet.

With that two of the Gamorrean took the lead as the massive front door of the palace rose up to allow them entry while the other two likely would resume their usual standard of keeping watch for strangers or attackers.

Anyone hostile to Boorka with even a little skill at stealth or strategy, though, would be able to slip past them easily enough in her opinion.

As the door ground shut behind them, she found that the foul odors prevalent in the place were perceivable even if she didn't breath through her nose. Hopefully she would get a chance to clean the stench from her fur after the mission or her sense of smell would be of little use trying to peer through the smells that would cling to her body. Thugs, slaves and workers were scattered about the hallway they were being led down, with some merely laying about while others behaved like she expected scum to behave. When any of the males among them caught sight of her or Erica they predictably leered at the two of them and even made a few lewd propositions about how they could spend their time. They pushed her patience to varying degrees but she restrained herself from taking action that would endanger the success of the mission.

It was very difficult at times.

Eventually they entered the main chambers of Boorka the Hutt and she could not keep the reaction of revulsion when she beheld the slug in all its corpulence. Still she kept it to a disgusted expression and did not put her feelings into words.

"The mighty Boorka welcomes you and asks why you have sought an audience with him," the 3PX-series protocol droid said after his master spoke in his native tongue.

"I've been hired to capture and deliver someone you regularly employ to another world," Xander replied, keeping his response short. "Will you stand in my way?"

"The mighty Boorka requests that you name who you are here to capture. Only then can he judge whether it is necessary to stand in your way," 3PX replied after the Hutt voiced his response.

"The Weequay bounty hunter Shahan Alama," Xander replied before taking out a mini-holodisc that projected the image of the target. "My sources say he comes here often to check on bounties and work."

More Huttese was spoken, much more than before, but thankfully it came to an end before irritation become an issue.

"The mighty Boorka knows of this Weequay and has used him successfully in the past. He asks how you would compensate him for the loss of such a useful agent," 3PX said, conveying his master's words in Galactic Basic.

"I'm prepared to cut you in for fifteen percent of the bounty and I will speak with my employer about contacting you," Xander declared before shutting down the projection. "It will be up to the two of you to reach an 'understanding'."

The Hutt seemed to consider this before uttering a question.

"What is the amount you were promised for Shahan Alama?" 3PX asked, translating the question into Basic.

This was the tough part.

While she had learned from others that they had been given access to certain funds in order to facilitate their spying efforts, it was not a bottomless pit of credits. She did not know of what they could spare would be enough to entice the Hutt into leaving them alone.

"Fifteen thousand Republic credits alive. Ten thousand dead," Xander replied, not giving anything away with his voice.

This definitely caught the Hutt's attention. Not as much as a reward in the hundreds of thousands or millions would've but she was beginning to feel as though it would be enough.

"The mighty Boorka would be willing to allow you to capture Shahan Alama if his portion were increased to twenty-five percent," 3PX stated after conferring with his master.

 _Typical greed from criminal scum,_ she thought with a light snarl. _Never satisfied with what they are honorably given._

"Twenty percent. No higher," Xander stated in a tone that made it clear that he would not budge further.

An aggressive tone blanketed Boorka's response to this as he spoke and her sense of hearing informed her that several of the armed individuals in the room were adjusting their positions.

"The great Boorka asks why he should settle for twenty percent when he can capture you and your followers, torture you to get the name of your employer and collect all the bounty," 3PX asked, not employing the same sort of emotion in its words.

"One: my employer hired me and not you. He will not turn over the bounty simply because you took over the request," Xander explained, keeping cool and factual. "And two: I assume you all have a healthy desire to live."

An electronic sound reached her ears coming from Xander's position and, when she turned to look at him, she saw that in his hand was a thermal detonator.

A Class-A thermal detonator to be precise but, seeing as how it had not detonated yet, she assumed that it was fitted with a fail-deadly feature, meaning it would only detonate if Xander removed his thumb from the arming button.

"Just so you know this is a Class-A thermal detonator fitted with a fail-deadly feature. This means that within two seconds of my removing my thumb from the arming button, it will explode," Xander said, confirming her appraisal of the weapon. "With its blast radius it WILL kill everyone in this room."

This caused more than a few of the chamber's occupants to back away rather quickly and a couple to even leave immediately rather than stay to witness the outcome of the confrontation. Not that she blamed them since death by thermal detonator was generally not something a sentient being looked forward to.

"HAHAHA! HOHOHO!" Boorka laughed, causing its slug like body to jiggle most unpleasantly.

Was the Hutt being amused a good thing? She wasn't sure and so she slowly moved a hand towards one of her blasters.

When the Hutt spoke he sounded quite amused and she hoped what the droid would tell them would be positive.

"The almighty Boorka is impressed by your resolve and your resourcefulness," 3PX stated in the same tone as always. "He hereby grants you permission to capture your quarry unhindered in exchange for twenty percent of the bounty."

With those words the detonator was deactivated before being returned to its place on his belt.

"Then the deal is made," Xander said before he turned to her and Erica, indicating that they should follow him to a relatively unoccupied part of the chamber.

"Well done, 'Slade'. Neither Boorka or his subordinates will act carelessly after that," Erica said in a voice that would not carry outside their little group.

"True. However we can't waste time here. After enough time goes by without our 'bounty' showing up, they'll wonder why we're still here and suspect something's up," he said, likewise keeping his voice low. "Take strategic positions about the room, make it look like you're waiting to pounce on Shahan the second he shows up, then listen extra carefully for anything about Jabba's son."

"And if we hear nothing?" she asked, casting a wary gaze about the room.

"Then we'll return to the Envoy and wait until everyone in the palace has fallen asleep," he replied, turning to look at her through helmeted eyes. "It'll then be Erica's turn to do some electronic digging. Now go."

With a nod she looked around before spotting a location that would serve well to aid her Catharian hearing in eavesdropping on the surrounding conversations. It'd also be an acceptable ambush point to support the story that the Hutt and his minions had been fed. Walking over to it, she noticed how some of the criminal filth looked at her and knew that they likely were entertaining what they'd like to do with her if an opportunity arose. With a low warning growl she gripped one of her blasters, one finger just waiting to wrap around the trigger.

While some of the dimmer ones were undeterred, those with a modicum of intellect wisely reigned in their leers.

Not precisely what she wanted but it'd do for now.

 _ **Erica's POV**_

Hours had passed and, while a few of the lounging criminals had mentioned that Jabba and his organization was in an uproar, she could had yet to get confirmation that Boorka was behind it or where the little Huttlet could be. Some were discussing taking advantage of Jabba's distraction to launch sneak attacks on the holdings of their master's rival while others seemed content to merely sit back and 'enjoy the show' as Xander sometimes said.

Not as productive as she'd hoped but her time wasn't being completely wasted as she canvassed the area looking for possible outlets through which she could access the information network of the palace.

 _Three in this chamber that I can see,_ she thought as she continued her visual search. _However, depending on the sleeping arrangements this place usually, has I'd prefer something a little more private._

Unfortunately she couldn't go off searching the entire palace for that private spot without arousing suspicion and possibly getting the rest of the group into trouble, so she focused in the chamber where they waited instead.

Noticing movement to the right, she watched as one of the criminals approached Xander and, out of concern for her master, she focused the acuteness of her auditory sensors in that direction.

"Nice move earlier. Boorka's not easy to impress," the criminal, an Ubese from what she could see, said with some respect. "Think you'd be interested in some extra work?"

"Perhaps after I've delivered my target to my employer," Xander replied, giving away nothing about what was going on inside his head. "I never take two jobs at the same time. Avoids conflicts of interest. Those can be…bmessy."

"True enough. Still, a slow way to pile up the credits, though," the Ubese said with a nod of concession.

"Won't get ANY credits if you try to do two jobs and fail both of them," Xander pointed out while not losing sight of the rest of the room.

"Suit yourself," the Ubese said before walking away with a lesser opinion of 'Slade Ordo'.

She personally wasn't surprised since it was in keeping with the image Xander wanted to convey to those who didn't know the truth. Besides which, it was only logical that, if one tried to do too much, the quality of effort put into each task would also diminish until failure was almost certain. Better to give one job, one task, your undivided attention and ensure success than split it between multiple ones.

Seeing Xander once more alone, she resumed listening in on the conversations going on around her for any word of Jabba's son or the abduction in general. Sadly, as the hours went by, all she got for her efforts was an abundance of gossip, a handful of crude jokes and maybe one or two tidbits about future criminal acts that would be performed by members of Boorka's gang. While she could probably see to it that the details of these future crimes made their way to the appropriate law enforcement organization, it wasn't what they were looking for. Did this mean that Boorka had nothing to do with the abduction of Jabba's son? Possible, but she still believed that no one on the lawless side of the galaxy who managed to carve an empire did so without keeping an eye on the competition.

When she saw Xander give the signal that they'd be leaving for the 'Stellar Envoy', she actually found herself grateful since it meant a reprieve from the crude humor and complete lack of morality that filled Boorka's palace. Still, she maintained the appearance of being a loyal subordinate to 'Slade Ordo' until she was sure that the group was well clear of any senses, whether they be natural or artificial.

"Any luck?" Xander asked while still sounding like he was looking for signs of eavesdroppers or someone shadowing them.

"None, I'm afraid," Sarahari replied with a growl of dissatisfaction. "Despite my best efforts I neither heard nor saw anything that could help us locate Jabba's son."

What the Catharian didn't mention was that one of the reasons why she hadn't been successful was the fact that, surprisingly enough, she'd been the target of quite a few unwanted advances by males loyal to Boorka. As a result there had been times when the woman's attention was not on her task but rather dissuading the men who approached her of the idea that she'd EVER want anything to do with them. To the female feline's credit, though, she'd kept her methods of discouraging the advances discreet, with a minimum of commotion and without injuring any of Boorka's men.

Force knew she'd probably wanted to more than once.

 _I wonder why none of them ever made a pass at me?_ she thought in a moment of puzzlement.

Briefly she consulted her memories and the efforts she had taken to appear more attractive where Xander was concerned but nothing she could remember seemed wrong or repulsive. In fact, if some of the looks she'd noticed coming from Captain Jadak indicated anything, it was that she was indeed quite pleasing to the male eye. She had even noticed Xander staring the few times she managed to take on a subtle sexual pose that accentuated her toned body, but he almost always tore his eyes away, no doubt out of fear that one of the Jedi Masters would notice and disapprove.

 _I can only assume that they don't like human females,_ she thought before mentally shrugging. _Not that I want the advances of criminal scum but, if I am to succeed in gaining Xander's romantic affections, I must refine my efforts using whatever means at my disposal._

"I faired no better. Despite my acute senses I heard nothing pertaining to Jabba's son," she stated, adding her failure to Sarahari's.

"Then I guess you'll be doing your ghost routine to get access to his systems," Xander said with some disappointment. "With a bit of luck, what the scumbags won't talk about they'll at least store in their databases. If worse comes to worse we'll at least get enough incriminating information to shut down Boorka's entire operation."

"There'll likely be guards on duty even during the night, but so long as none of them are particularly perceptive it shouldn't be a problem," she said before mentally drawing up a route of entry into the palace as well as a way of exit.

"That should not be difficult," Sarahari said haughtily. "I doubt very much that there's a single perceptive person amongst them."

"Don't underestimate them," Xander warned firmly after turning to look at her. "You don't last very long or get very powerful as a criminal if you don't develop a healthy amount of paranoia and a certain degree of ruthlessness."

"I won't," she said with resolve. "Still, it'd probably be a good idea to be close by in case I need help making my escape."

"Don't worry. Between my helmet's sensors and Sarahari's skills, we'll be as close as can without being found out," Xander said in such a way so as to erase all doubt that help would be there if she needed it.

Now all she needed to do was gather what she would need to penetrate the systems of a Hutt gangster, preferably without being discovered, and look for the information they sought in a timely manner.

No problem.


	2. Adapt to Overcome

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted materials contained herein. They are the rightful property of their respective creators and/or associated companies. I make no profit from this whatsoever and I have no intention of changing this at any point in the future. I write because it's fun and because there are those who enjoy reading my work. Therefore I would greatly appreciate it if no legal action were taken against me. I can promise you that even if you liquidated everything I own it wouldn't cover even a fifth of your legal fees.

 _ **Ally of Sidious' POV**_

 _It is time,_ he thought as he watched a group that included his prey leave their ship before proceeding in the general direction of the Hutt's palace.

He had arrived on Tatooine not too long after the 'Stellar Envoy' but instead of attacking his target immediately he chose instead to observe and evaluate. Despite close observation, he had been unable to determine the precise number of occupants of the ship but he estimated their number to be no more than ten at the absolute most. Of those who ventured out of the ship, two were positively identified as Jedi, two women, and based on audio recordings from the spy probe there were also two Padawan learners present. When his target returned from the palace after sunset, he evaluated his group, too, but found little to be concerned about. A Catharian female armed with heavy blasters. A woman whom Lord Sidious had informed him was an H.R.D. While their presence would make killing his primary target something other than boring, the outcome was never in doubt.

For a time all occupants of the ship remained inside, no doubt devising some fiendish scheme to thwart Lord Sidious' ambitions, but it was when the boarding ramp lowered next that he noticed something interesting. Once more his primary target emerged along with the Catharian but in addition to them a figure wearing a hooded cloak emerged. Judging from the figure's height and the visible signs of its build, he suspected it was a female humanoid and his instincts told him SHE was a JEDI. He had watched countless vid-files along with a live transmission of the so-called 'Battle of Geonosis', so he was familiar with how the cursed Force users moved. While not what Count Dooku or Lord Sidious would consider undeniable proof of Jedi presence, it was consistent with what he'd been told of his primary target.

What had his attention, though, was the sand beneath their feet.

What he expected, namely the displacement of the sand due to their feet, he saw but he also saw another portion of sand move as though something the size of a boot was pressing down on it.

 _The H.R.D.,_ he thought as he recalled what he'd seen during the Battle of Geonosis. _She has a cloaking device inside of her, albeit an imperfect one._

For a warrior such as he it was child's play to follow the mysterious displacement of sand while also discerning what was going to happen. Their earlier trip to Boorka the Hutt must have been less than fruitful otherwise they would have left Tatooine. The fact that the H.R.D. was invisible implied that she wished to enter the Hutt's palace undetected to either speak with someone or to access the databanks there. While the others could be intending to infiltrate with the H.R.D. as their invisible reinforcement, it was more likely that they were the reinforcements. The flesh-bot would seek the information while the others waited close by to provide aid should Boorka's forces discover her. As he debated how events would unfold, a plan for how he would use their own plan to his advantage began to form, thus making his victory all the sweeter.

 _They shall be as vermin dancing to my tune,_ he thought as he lowered his binoculars and hung them from his belt. _They will be caught in my web. Helpless and soon to be DEAD!_

Climbing onto his speeder-bike, he moved to get to Boorka's palace before his target's group; there was little point in shadowing them since he knew where they were going.

It didn't take long for him to come within eyesight of the Hutt's base of operations and, once he had safely hidden his vehicle close by, he advanced towards the eastern side of the building. Unlike some he did not let the substandard guards lure him to complacency. He used every skill he had been taught to the fullest to evade detection by either mechanical eyes or organic ones and, once he reached the side of the palace, he used his mechanical limbs to scale the wall. It wasn't easy to do so without making suspicious noises that would draw the attention of the guards patrolling the exterior but his years of experience had served him well. Before long he had reached the windows on the top floor and, by clever usage of his mechanical right arm, cut an opening in the glass surface big enough for him to slip through.

Moving over to a nearby console, he used the code breaker attachment he'd brought with him to gain access, calling up a floor plan of the entire structure. It took him only a little time to locate where Boorka would be sleeping as well as the location of its databanks. However it was when he located the primary power generators for the building that a cunning idea was born. He shut down the console before making his way through the various hallways of the palace, using stealth to sneak by some scum but lethal force on others that saw him by chance alone. Once he reached the primary power generators he cleared the room of any life forms as well as any security devices before placing thermal detonators at key points on the machines.

When he was satisfied that he would get the desired results he began to make his way towards the throne room where Boorka the Hutt no doubt slept surrounded by his underlings. It would be there that he would strike but only after he implemented his distraction. Creeping like a deadly predator he traversed the hallways he deduced were the less often used by the criminals before coming to a stop just outside of the throne room.

"Time for a wakeup call," he muttered before bringing a metallic talon down on his wrist detonator.

Given the less than spectacular construction, it was all too easy for him to both hear as well as feel the destruction of the primary power generators. All machines hooked up to the now-mangled mound of metal either sparked and smoked or exploded due to the sudden power surge that they were not equipped to handle. Just as he'd intended this woke the Hutt and those under his command in a hurry before the bulbous sack of meat asked the predictable questions and issued the equally predictable orders.

Spread out and find the one responsible for the explosions.

As he'd predicted the hallway he was hiding in was not used since most of those loyal to the Hutt went by the major exits in order to execute the orders they'd been given. He waited until it became clear that no more people would leave and then he stepped into the light, unhooking from his waist the two lightsabers that had started off his trophy collection. He waited until one of the remaining people in the room saw him before he ignited his weapons and swiftly separated the fool's head from his shoulders. Screams and exclamations of fear filled the air as some tried to flee but, with the enhancements to his feet, it was easy for him to pick up the blaster of his first victim and wield it skillfully enough to eliminate any potential escapees with a single shot for each of them. Once those that remained eventually realized that running would only get them deader quicker, he cast aside the weapon before advancing towards Boorka.

The Hutt spoke in hurried and fearful tones but he understood none of it.

The slug's droid, though, was quick to translate though.

"The great Boorka finds your skills most impressive and inquiries as to why you have come before him," the droid asked with simulated worry.

"That is quite simple, you bloated fool," he said as he advanced towards the Hutt. "I am here to kill you because of your curiosity. You should not have stuck your nose into Confederacy affairs."

The Hutt babbled some more, no doubt trying to convince him that he would never allow the sensitive information to fall into the hands of the Republic.

It would not do him any good.

With a lunge and a swipe of the lightsaber in his right hand he gutted the gangster almost from one end to another, leaving a nasty cauterized wound for any survivors to see. Inwardly enjoying the fear he was causing, he began to move about the room with efficiency and speed, dealing instant death to each of them. In under a minute he was the only living thing in the room, leaving only one thing left to do: locate and corner his primary target's infiltrator.

He would not kill her immediately, nor would he jam any transmissions she may wish to make.

Not when those transmissions would serve to bring his prey to him where he and his allies could be disposed of in one fell swoop.

Recalling the layout of the palace, he began to make his way towards the location that would prove most useful in the ambush he intended to execute. 'Coincidentally' it was also the most likely route the infiltrator would use to exit Boorka's palace and hook up with the others outside. All he need do was hide and wait for her to arrive because then the real fun would begin.

 _ **Approaching the Palace of Boorka the Hutt**_

 _ **Xander's POV**_

"Why do I get the feeling that things have taken a turn for the worse?" he asked with worry as he looked at the smoke and bits of flame escaping from numerous holes and cracks in Boorka's palace.

"Because Erica was supposed to avoid drawing attention to herself and burning fires tend to do the exact opposite?" Master Kuro replied with disappointment. "It appears this mission was too much for your droid."

Unable to keep from feeling a little defensive he said, "Her creator, Massad Thrumble, has a nearly impeccable reputation in his field of expertise. I doubt he did anything less than an excellent job creating Erica and programming all the necessary skills. If something's happened it's because something unexpected came up."

"Whatever the case, she's going to need help escaping the palace," Master Kuro said as she took her lightsaber off her belt. "Let's go."

With that he, Master Kuro and Sarahari advanced towards the palace, weapons at the ready since it was likely that they'd have to fight their way past the Hutt's armed subordinates in order to get to Erica. With the A280 blaster rifle he'd picked up to replace the rifle he'd used on Ord Mantell he advanced, keeping it at the ready to take down any hired muscle that tried to get in their way. From what he'd been told the weapon had excellent armor piercing abilities and was effective up to three hundred meters before its accuracy became an issue. He had a secondary weapon strapped to his right thigh in the form of DC-17 hand blaster that he'd acquired from a crate of them that'd been in Jadak's hanger back on Coruscant. Coupled with the rest of his Mandalorian gear, plus some odds and ends stored in his utility belt, he was confident that he could handle the scum likely to get in their way.

As they closed to within fifty yards of the main entrance to the palace they could see many of the people they'd passed earlier in the day running out the doors, their arms filled with various items, some of which looked quite valuable. Some saw them approach but instead of dropping their loot to go for their weapons they simply altered the course to veer away towards a safer location.

"I don't like the looks of this," he said, watching as more scumbags made off with loot that he very much doubted belonged to them. "Considering how most gangsters keep their minions in line, they wouldn't be doing this if Boorka was still breathing."

"We need to find out what is going on inside," Master Kuro said as she picked up speed. "Hurry!"

Increasing their pace they entered the palace to find the building in chaos with various electronics spitting sparks and smoke while miniature fires popped up from time to time. Much like they'd seen outside minions were everywhere looting what they could but a few displayed some kind of honor by trying to get injured comrades to safety. While his more cynical side pointed out that they could simply have been promised monetary compensation or threatened with something nasty, he wanted to believe that there did exist some honor among thieves. In any case he followed Master Kuro and they soon arrived at the throne room of Boorka, only to find a place of carnage and death that made him glad his helmet had breathing filters. All about the room dead bodies littered the floor, including the stinking mass of putrid flesh belonging to the Hutt known as Boorka. From what he could see the people had been killed by a combination of blaster bolts and… lightsaber slashes?!

"A lightsaber… but I doubt Dooku's responsible for this," he said as he tried to imagine how the slaughter began as well as how things had ended. "His style is more… refined, more in keeping with his aristocratic personality. This was done with brutal efficiency. An apprentice, maybe?"

"Perhaps. The question we must answer though is WHY Dooku would send an apprentice to kill Boorka," Master Kuro asked as she examined the area with her own eyes.

"We can debate the reason for all this death AFTER we've hooked up with Erica," he said, shoving aside the conundrum for the time being.

A nod was all he got in reply as his Jedi Master moved for the opposite entryway they'd used to enter the throne room, heading in the direction of where they'd deduced the main databanks were located. Kuro took the lead, with Sarahari in the middle and him taking up the rear just in case there were any surprises trying to sneak up on them. There were a few twists and turns but, before he could begin to feel any more uneasy than he already was, they entered a lounge area that broke up the lengthy hallway.

In the middle of that lounge lay a battered looking Erica, with the unusual substance that allowed her to turn invisible peeled off her skin like she'd gone a couple of rounds with a lengthy patch of thorns. Strips of various lengths had been torn from the full bodysuit and something very much like blood trickled from some of the holes, though he suspected it was probably some organic mech fluid of some kind.

His first impulse was to race to her side to ascertain her condition but, before he could act, his more professional side warned him that not only was it not what Mandalorian soldier for hire 'Slade Ordo' would do but that it was suspicious to find Erica laid out the way she was. Even if she was unarmed there was no way his HRD friend would've been taken down by some random thug, especially since most of them were more concerned with looting and leaving. However her wounds weren't consistent with being taken out by a Sith apprentice due to the serious lack of lightsaber wounds, unless the Dark Side user was using Erica as bait for an ambush. In that case keeping his friend in recoverable condition would make better bait as well as a distraction.

They had to play this carefully.

Looking to both Sarahari and Master Kuro, he could tell that they'd come to the same conclusion as he had. Using hand signals, Master Kuro indicated that she would advance while the rest of them remained in the hallway as backup. While he didn't like it, he had to admit that if Erica's attacker did possess lightsabers, the only one among them armed with a lightsaber would be the best one to step into the danger zone. Bringing up his rifle and placing the scope attached to it in front of his helmet's visor so he could snap off a precision shot in an instant, he waited for the Jedi Master to move forward. He could sense Sarahari likewise preparing to fire once a target presented itself, even though it was likely that the best they'd be able to hope for was to be a distraction. If their foe wielded lightsabers it was possible that they'd be able to deflect blasterfire as well and he'd seen what tended to happen to those who opened fire on Force users.

Not pretty and often very fatal.

 _Hey… if there's a Sith here, then why haven't I picked up any disturbances in the Force?_ he thought with some confusion.

Indeed, in all his experiences since being dropped in this dimension, it was a pretty strong rule that only a Force user could wield a lightsaber effectively. Sure, someone without Force sensitivity could swing it like a normal metal sword but the risk of accidentally slicing off a limb was pretty high and deflecting blaster bolts consistently definitely required the Force. Stretching out with his mind, he tried to pick up on any signs of a Force user's presence in the immediate area but, after a full minute of looking, he failed to pick up anyone other than himself or Master Kuro.

It was a mystery.

He didn't like mysteries.

With extra sharpness he kept himself ready to fire as he watched Master Kuro advance and, when she reached Erica's side, he fully expected the HRD's attacker to appear but they did not. Seconds went by as the Dark Woman began to appraise Erica's condition, using methods usually used for natural forms of life. It'd still work, though, since the HRD's creator had done well in making her appear human, including making it so that the status of her vital systems could be measured using basic First Aid methods. When he saw some of the tension leave his Master, he could only presume that she found signs that Erica would be fine and so a bit of tension left his body as well.

A mistake.

Out of nowhere the sound and light of lightsabers cut through the sounds of chaos and immediately all looked towards the source, only to perceive a blur as it darted out of an alcove towards Master Kuro. Fortunately his teacher was no slouch in the speed department herself as she quickly drew her lightsaber and ignited it in time to block the two that would have otherwise cut the woman into three separate portions. Even so he could tell that the attacker possessed considerable strength and it was easy to see why: it was a droid… or at least it looked like one. White armor covering black inner workings with a mask that reminded him of the top half of a predator's skull and limbs that were almost insect-like in nature. It made for a rather fierce looking form that possessed power enough to test the strength of any Jedi.

Without a word he took aim at the maybe-not-droid's upper body and opened fire with his rifle but, much to his chagrin, whatever the white metal was it proved to be up to the task of stopping his weapon's blaster bolts.

That wasn't to say that they were completely ineffective since they did cause the being he was beginning to suspect was a cyborg to rock back with the impact of the hits. Master Kuro used this to her advantage to push her attacker back with the Force so she could assume a more effective combat stance and appraise the situation.

"Who are you?" Master Kuro asked with cold resolve.

"I am your DEATH, Jedi SCUM!" the cyborg declared with malice. "That's all you need to know!"

With that the self-proclaimed Jedi grim reaper lunged forward with his lightsabers once more intending to separate life from her body by separating the limbs first. Unfortunately this proved to be difficult given that his mentor began to employ Ataru, with the intention of countering the cyborg's droid mobility and flexibility. It was tough to watch because, while the ambush spot wasn't completely cramped, it also didn't provide enough room to use the style of lightsaber combat to the fullest. As a result neither combatant could hold the advantage for very long before it slipped through their fingers. For a moment he wondered why she wasn't using one of her more infamous abilities, namely the one to turn herself invisible using Force Cloak, but when he tried to get a feel for the battle he realized it wouldn't do any good. Given the cyborg's natural reach, extended even further by the lightsabers, even if Master Kuro did turn invisible she wouldn't have enough room to stay outside the kill zone. Given the speed at which their foe could move and the mechanical range of movement provided by the droid-like body, it'd be all too easy to hit almost all areas in a matter of seconds.

 _I know she has a few other super rare powers but I haven't heard much about them,_ he thought as he tried to think of some way he could help defeat the cybernetic opponent.

The battle of lightsabers was going at too quick a pace for him to use his blaster rifle with enough of a guarantee that he wouldn't hit his teacher, so that was out. The grapple line, flame thrower and dart launcher were also unacceptable since they moved at a slower speed than a blaster bolt or would only endanger the Jedi Master. However it was as his eyes fell on Erica once more than he realized that defeating the cyborg was not necessary to achieve victory. All they needed was to get their team member to safety, along with whatever info she'd found and they'd win.

Adjust his aim, he fired his grapple line the second an opening in the combat presented itself and watched as the metal cord wrapped around his friend and droid. The second he was certain that he had her he began reeling the line back in as quickly as he could to remove her from the battlefield but apparently the motor responsible for the reeling would need an upgrade. Even as fast as it was, the cyborg moved to slice the line or Erica with enough speed that he'd succeed.

Too bad he'd forgotten about Sarahari because, right before the lightsaber blade would have hit Erica, a barrage of blaster bolts slammed into the arm holding the deadly weapon. Much like his own efforts earlier it wasn't enough to do any visible damage but the force behind the bolts was enough to throw off the fiend's aim so that only stone floor was damaged. Relief washed over him once Erica was in his arms and, just as Master Kuro had learned earlier, he saw for himself that she was still alive.

 _Time to get out of here!_ He reached for a little something Erica had made for him on their trip to Tatooine. "Jedi! D&R!"

To some his words might have been confusing but he'd spoken briefly with her about strategy and how to convey what needed to be done without tipping their hand. They hadn't gotten very many committed to memory but the one he'd used had been one of the first and, looking to his Jedi Master, she responded as they'd agreed. When he saw her execute a series of the flashier moves in the Ataru style, he primed Erica's gift and, when the fourth of what he knew to be five moves was executed, he GENTLY rolled the sphere in the cyborg's direction but not without a respectable bit of speed. As Kuro leapt back towards him and Sarahari, the sphere reached their foe, at which point he'd planned for one of two things to happen.

Either the detonator would blow up when its five second fuse expired or the cyborg would attempt to throw it right back at them… at which point there'd be a nice surprise waiting for the tin-plated killer.

"I think you dropped something, Ordo!" the cyborg said tauntingly. "Here! You can have it back!"

"I think not," he said in his best stone cold, badass soldier voice.

The second the killer's mechanical hand gripped the detonator, the pressure sensors Erica had installed were activated.

It wasn't the most powerful of explosions since his HRD had been forced to remove some of the internal workings in order to make room for the pressure sensors, but it did its job well enough. The surprise, the force of the explosion and the close proximity of the blast all served to knock the cyborg onto his back. He and the others didn't stick around much longer than that since none of them harbored any illusions about the duration of the enemy's moment of disorientation. Breaking into a run they began to make their way back to the nearest exit outside.

"This is Ordo," he said after activating his comm-system. "We need a swoop and scoop outside the palace. Immediately."

"We hear ya!" Jadak said through the helmet's internal speakers. "We're on our way!"

"Be warned, hostile has a plasma stick and is more than ninety percent clanker," he said to let them know what they'd be flying into.

"We'll be ready," Jadak said before a beep indicated a severing of the communications link.

"So will we," he said before glancing over his shoulder to see an advancing shadow gaining ground. "I just hope we don't miss our flight."

 _ **Jedi Master Kuro's POV**_

"I take it that modified detonator was made by your droid?" she asked as the main entrance/exit came into sight.

"Yes. _Barda_ does good work," Padawan Xander replied, emphasizing the alias his droid had been given in place of the one used around the Temple. "Not good enough for our 'friend', though."

While she didn't like the fact that her Padawan had chosen to treat the human replica droid like a person, she could not find fault with the rest of his statement. Whoever or whatever their pursuer was, he had been trained in lightsaber combat well, by Dooku most likely, and possessed few of the physical limitations most organic bodies possessed. When she had fought the cyborg she had found herself pressured and for that to happen fighting someone not allied with the Force was unsettling to say the least. Would that change once they got outside and she had more room to maneuver? Possibly. However defeating the melding of flesh and metal wasn't the objective of the mission and, with victory far from certain, it would be better to withdraw with this new information. Once the Jedi Council knew of this new variable, an effective strategy could be constructed for dealing with the threat.

As she heard the sound of the enemy gaining on them, she decided that something needed to be done about that.

"Any more tricks from her on that belt of yours?" she asked, deciding to leave the lecture about 'personal attachments' and droids for later.

"As a matter of fact yes," he replied before taking what looked like two halves of a single thermal detonator from a pouch on his belt. "Here's hoping old flesh and tin has tunnel vision."

Her Padawan turned around and tossed one half to left while the other went to the right, perfectly across from one another horizontally. She saw a brief flare up, a line of red light connecting the two halves, but it vanished almost as quickly as it appeared. Obviously the devices were set to go off once the invisible tripwire was broken but she worried that such a trap would be too obvious, especially since there was no way of knowing if there were any optical upgrades involved. Still, there wasn't any time to come up with something more effective.

As seconds ticked by without any accompanying explosion she began to believe that her Padawan's trap had failed but the Force quickly proved that she should have more faith in her pupil. A second later the sound of a thermal detonator going off was heard, accompanied soon after by the furious bellow of her cybernetic opponent. Still, she did not see her foe giving up so early, so she did not lessen her pace and she could see that the others were of a similar mindset.

When they finally exited the former residence of Boorka, she soon spotted the familiar lights of the 'Stellar Envoy' approaching quickly and hoped that Xander's little surprise would delay their pursuer long enough for them to get aboard. No matter how powerful the cyborg was, she hadn't seen anything to indicate that he had a weapon on him capable of bringing down a light freighter. True, a lightsaber used in the correct manner could disable a ship but, without the Force, it was unlikely the enemy would be able to pull it off.

Once they were far enough from the palace that the Envoy could touch down she turned back towards the building, lightsaber ignited and ready for use should her former foe want a rematch. She could feel a bit of unease within her but she did not let it remain before she released it into the Force, returning the calm that befitted a Jedi Master.

 _There is no emotion, there is peace._

She could sense the ship and the living beings connected to the Force that rode within as it got closer but she did not allow herself to look away from the palace. There was too little known about the cybernetic being she fought for her to believe close range combat was the only avenue open. If, as she suspected, he was an agent of Count Dooku sent to silence Boorka and kill the rest of them, then it was possible his body had features comparable to a battle droid's metal form, including weapons. The poor lighting and the pace at which they'd previously fought had made it almost impossible to properly evaluate every inch of the metal form. It was only when she felt the strong impact of the Envoy that she turned away from the Palace and made for the ship as quickly as she could manage. Xander and Sarahari were already halfway up the ramp by the time she reached the bottom of it but once she was on it someone initiated the retraction process. After that it was less than a minute before they were high enough in the air that nothing wieldable by a single person, even a cyborg, would be able to reach them.

With purposeful strides she made her way to the improvised quarters of her team to see if the HRD, Erica, had come back online. Given their foe's capabilities, she couldn't blame the HRD for being defeated but she hoped that at least it had managed to recover the information they needed. While she did have a few other possible locations to search, the fact that Dooku had sent someone to eliminate Boorka did indicate the Hutt knew something that had to die with him. Whether this information had to do with the abduction of Jabba's son or not, she believed it would prove valuable one way or another.

When she entered the main hold she could see Knight Keto administering medical aid to the HRD and, while she did not believe it would be completely effective, it would hopefully be enough to get its mind back online.

"How is Erica doing?" she asked, knowing that referring to the HRD as an 'it', while truthful, would only breed friction they did not need at the moment.

"I've tended to her wounds with the med-kit aboard but honestly I'm not sure what good it will do," Knight Keto replied with uncertain honesty. "If she were a human I'd say she'll be fine with some rest and bacta patches but since she's an HRD... I do not know."

"I'll be…fine…" came an unexpected voice, causing all to look down to its source.

It was with a bit of a surprise that they saw Erica waking up, though she looked a little weak from her ordeal.

"My father had the foresight to equip me with limited self-repair systems," Erica explained as she looked at each of them in turn. "And for future reference, Knight Keto, medical aid intended for pure organics is still beneficial to me, even if I'm somewhat 'different'."

"Good to know," Padawan Xander said, looking quite relieved. "Can you tell us what happened?"

"Yeah. I entered the palace as planned and managed to make my way to the data core without being detected by any of Boorka's employees. Quite frankly the slug's security stunk worse than Bantha poodoo. Must not be too used to being infiltrated by smart people."

"Well, I could tell that much after just looking at the place," he said with a roll of his eyes. "The Hutts might be gangsters but they're also greedy, credit pinching assholes. No way would they spring for a top of the line security system or cutting edge data core security."

"Considering where Tatooine is located and the sleaze buckets who operate out here, they don't really need to," Rreya stated from her position in the room. "Most of the enemies they have tend to solve their problems using the business end of a blaster or orbital bombardment. Sneaking in and hacking their data core isn't something they have a lot of experience dealing with."

"In any case I managed to get into Boorka's system and began looking through the files created from about a week prior to the abduction of Jabba's son to the present. It was quite a bit, more than I'd expected, but any files that looked promising I saved even as I focused on finding what I was really after," Erica said as she continued explaining what'd happened.

"But you did find something we can pass on to those searching for Jabba's son?" she asked, focusing on what was important.

"Yes. It was vague but I found references to the abductor's ship using Separatist frequencies and the precise vector of the ship's hyperspace jump," Erica replied with a nod of her head even as strength returned to her. "Apparently Boorka wanted some useful information on hand to extort certain concessions out of Jabba. If we plot all worlds capable of supporting life and any space stations, we can narrow down places to search for the Republic's forces."

"We can narrow things down even further by checking intel reports on Separatist fleet movements and battle droid sightings along the same vector," she said, already optimistic about meeting Jabba's requirement for a treaty with the Republic for use of his territory as military supply routes. "We need to transmit this information to the Temple as soon as possible."

"Give me another few minutes and I can do it," Erica said as she tried to push herself into a sitting position and doing, so albeit with some strain. "It'll take that long to ensure safe data transfer."

"You have five," she said, willing to concede that a safe data transfer took precedence over expediency. "In the meantime I must meditate on the foe we faced. Whether he's the only one of his kind or the first in a new type of opponent, the Republic Army will be facing devising a defense will be essential."

Indeed, even as she now idly played out her next encounter with the cyborg in her mind, she could not conceive of a definitive way to defeat him.

It was troubling.

 _ **The Jedi Temple on Coruscant**_

 _ **Meditation Room**_

 _ **Xander's POV**_

 _Whoever the cyborg alien is, he sure has the Masters in a tizzy,_ he thought as he meditated, waiting for the next spy assignment of his team. _Not that they'd ever admit it or let it show._

Still, he had to admit that, based on what he'd seen of the cyborg's abilities, they were easily on par with a Jedi Master's skills at least in terms of lightsaber combat. Given the ability to skillfully wield the weapon with both hands and feet, along with very little if any limited range of motion… it would take one skilled Jedi Master to defeat him.

Not him, obviously, since he was years away from earning the rank of Master or learning the skills that went along with the title. Even though some might say since he'd been instructed by members of the Jedi Council that he'd ascend faster than normal, he didn't believe so. He never once thought that he'd been given special treatment by any of his teachers during his training and neither did any of them suggest that he was being given special treatment. Whether he progressed at the normal rate or at an accelerated speed would depend entirely on his own natural talent and the effort he put into getting better.

He'd already done some lightsaber training so now he was trying to glean some extra info from the Force about the cyborg to improve his odds if the two of them ever had to fight with one another. Unfortunately, despite the fact that he'd shown signs of having a greater degree of precognition than was currently enjoyed by Jedi many years his senior, he wasn't getting anywhere. He could pick up vague premonitions of something unseen slinking about, unseen by all, something dark that mentally gave him the desire to shiver. At first he'd thought that it was the Dark Side, implying that the Sith were up to something, but after carefully examining the premonitions he couldn't decisively say it matched his own lapse into the Dark Side or what he'd sensed from Dooku during his fight with the old man. It didn't disqualify the possibility but, until he could declare it with certainty, he would keep his suspicions to himself.

"Damn it," he muttered with a bit of frustration as he opened his eyes. "Guess the Force isn't feeling particularly chatty today."

"Perhaps say all it needed to, it did," came a familiar voice to his left that caused him to jerk away from it in surprise, almost falling off the meditation seat he sat cross-legged on.

Turning his head in the direction of the voice he found it to be none other than Master Yoda who'd somehow managed to sneak into the meditation room and sit down without being detected in any way. While he almost ridiculed himself for his lack of awareness, he reminded himself that this was a Jedi Master and the most powerful one in the Order at the moment. If anyone could sneak up on an inexperienced Padawan like him without being sensed, it'd be him.

"You mean it told me what I needed to know and I just haven't figured out the message yet?" he asked, not bothering to question the little gnome's statement.

"Not long it should take you if understand my words so quickly you can," Yoda said with an approving grin. "Came to inform you I did of the safe recovery of Jabba's son. Secured the Hutts trade routes the Republic has."

"Good to hear. So who was it that managed the big save?" he asked, settling into a more informal posture. "Dooku and the Separatists can't be too happy with them right now."

"Obi-wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker recovered the Huttlet they did… along with young Skywalker's Padawan," Yoda said with some amusement in his expression.

"Annie's Padawan!?" he exclaimed in surprise at the concept of his friend teaching anyone, much less anyone trusting the guy to teach someone else. "Whose bright idea was it to assign Annie a Padawan?"

This only caused further amusement to form on Yoda's face.

"I don't mean to question your decision, Master Yoda, but is it truly wise to put a Padawan in Anakin's care?" he asked with concern but also respect. "He's definitely Knight material but he's also reckless and a little cocky. Not exactly the kind of traits you want passed on to the next generation of Jedi."

"Quite young Skywalker is. Much to learn he still has," Master Yoda said in agreement and a slight nod of his head. "If responsible for another he is, made to grow a little he may."

"Maybe… I'd just tell her to make sure she packs a med-kit," he said, conceding that some responsibility might force Anakin to exercise more caution. "Annie has a habit of diving into things without thinking things through first."

"Teach better you can?" Yoda asked with a bit of an amused challenge.

"Maybe once I've made Knight and have a couple of years of experience to my name I'll be ready," he replied, being honest with where he thought he was with his Jedi training. "Until then I'll just keep soaking up what Master Kuro has to teach me and doing what I can to help end this war sooner rather than later."

"Wise it is to respect one's limitations," Yoda said, placing both hands on his cane. "The courage to overcome them you must also have, though."

"It's why I'm training as best I can," he said, showing his resolve with his words. "Any word about my team's next assignment?"

"Not as yet. Still deliberating Master Kuro's report the Council is," Yoda replied as a concerned look fell over his face. "News of this cyborg assassin troubling it is."

"Definitely hoping I never see that guy again," he said with a shake of his head. "It's not fear talking but a very healthy survival instinct."

"Hope the Force agrees with you I do," Yoda said with a nod. "Flee you should if it does not."

"You won't get any argument from me, Master," he said before getting to his feet. "Now, since meditation's a bust, I think I'll do some searching in the Archives."

"Knowledge you seek?" Yoda asked with a raised eyebrow. "Of what?"

"Toxins or chemicals that can put most sentient species into a near death state safely," he replied before explaining his reasons for doing so. "I'm just looking for ways to avoid killing people without losing the credibility we'll need to convince the less than law abiding to let their guard down around us."

"Believe this will occur often you do?" Yoda asked, sounding somewhat troubled.

"While I'm going to do my best to make the universe see Slade Ordo as a gun for hire that isn't shy about breaking the law, I'm also trying to make him more 'respectable'," he replied, trying to put his plan into words. "A professional who gets the job done but considers an excess body count to be the first sign of an amateur or the mentally disturbed. Still, there'll probably be times when I'll need to prove that I'm cut from the same cloth as them and that'll probably mean hurting or killing someone they point out. If I can find a toxin or chemical that can make that someone look dead without actually being dead, it'd be a big help."

"And what of your 'victims' afterwards? Leave them to be discovered would you?" Yoda asked, pointing out something important.

"I… could… take them with me onto the Stellar Envoy. Say that some eccentric scumbag has a thing for stuffing and mounting the bodies of select sentient beings as decorations," he replied, constructing a hasty scenario. "I'll keep the criminal's description vague and refuse to divulge anything that could help someone track them down. Tell whoever asks that the being likes his anonymity."

"Take them where will you?" Yoda asked, prodding for more information.

"Maybe our allies on Naboo or Alderaan could help out there?" he asked with a little uncertainty. "As long as we put them someplace our 'new friends' won't stumble over them, they'll never find out the truth."

"And if refuse to hide they do?" Yoda asked, nicely making another point.

"I'll persuade them it's in their best interests," he replied with resolve. "If it turns out there's nothing we can do to keep them 'dead to the galaxy' then we let them go home. Hopefully the ones with enough economic or financial clout to force us to let them go home will also have enough influence to 'create a clone decoy' or have someone 'surgically and genetically altered' to look like the VIP. It'll be a believable enough excuse that Slade Ordo's credibility won't be too badly damaged by the deceased showing up very much alive."

"A feasible plan it is," Yoda said, nodding in approval. "Speak with Senators Organa and Amidala I will. Prepare a hidden sanctuary they will."

"Thank you, Master Yoda," he said with genuine gratitude.

"Speak with Jocasta Nu you should," Master Yoda suggested. "Familiar with the contents of the Archive she is. Narrow your search she can."

"I'll do just that," he said before turning to the door.

He'd been worried a bit that Yoda would've called his plan too deceptive and thus too Sith-like but it looked like the Jedi Master had no issues with his plan.

He just hoped that the Force didn't either.

 _ **Erica's POV**_

 _Full functionality restored,_ she thought as she completed a complex series of unarmed combat moves meant to put her body through its paces. _Good. I look forward to returning the favor to that abomination._

Indeed her pride had been hurt when she'd been defeated so easily by the Separatist warrior and, more than that, it'd damaged her master's view of her abilities. Such a thing was unacceptable in her mind since it was a part of her core programing to satisfy her master in everything she did, so she made a promise to herself that she would never allow herself to be such easy prey again. One thing she'd do was ask some of the more skilled lightsaber users to spar with her so she could get more used to fighting a duelist wielding such weapons. Maybe two Jedi, each capable of using a pair of lightsabers at the same time, one attacking from above while the other made low, sweeping slashes to better imitate the cyborg's fighting style.

She'd also spend some time in the repair shop constructing tools and gadgets that'd be particular useful against cybernetic opponents as well as lightsaber wielders. She already had a few ideas in mind and all she needed to do was find out if the materials she needed were available, as well as the tools. One such idea involved specialized ammunition for a slug thrower, ammunition that'd be particularly effective against metallic or cybernetic opponents. It'd take a bit of doing since, according to her master, the cyborg had considerable armor plating protecting its crucial areas and that would complicate her initial idea. Still, her mind worked faster than most people and ideas came quite quickly to her, with debates about their viability taking no more than five minutes.

The only question would be whether or not she would have the time to complete most of her work before the team received their next assignment.

 _If I can get most of the more complex work done here, I should be able to complete the rest aboard the Stellar Envoy using the common repair tools they have there,_ she thought as she left the training room and began to make her way to the repair shop.

It was one of the great constants of war time that one never knew when those in charge would issue new orders, cutting the down time short. She was only slightly reassured by the fact that spies were often less busy than soldiers since it took time to choose appropriate targets. The Separatists would almost certainly hide targets that would prove appetizing to spies, meaning it would take time to ferret out their locations since it'd likely require access to one of their warships or scanning the memory banks of the right droid.

Time she'd use to make sure she left the Temple a great deal more prepared.

It was just as the door to the repair shop came into view that her com-band beeped, notifying her that someone was trying to reach her. Sighing, she deduced what it likely was and knew she wouldn't be able to do any tinkering anytime soon.

"Erica here."

"Report to the data analysis room," came Jedi Master Kuro's voice from the band's speaker. "Looks like the info you hacked out of Boorka's data core might've been more valuable that we thought at first."

"What do you mean?" she asked, recalling what she could of the data.

"You'll see once you get to the data analysis room," Master Kuro replied curtly. "Dark Woman out."

"And a good day to you too," she muttered before changing her destination and heading for the data analysis room.

She knew what the woman thought of her, what the Jedi code demanded of the woman, even if she didn't let it show on the outside. Ever since she came to be in the service of Master Xander she'd seen how droids were treated in the Republic. While some owners behaved as though they considered their droids as friends, most treated droids as slaves, as equipment to use or destroy as they saw fit. While she was human in appearance, those that knew she was a human replica droid tended to drift towards the beliefs of the majority rather than the minority. Xander and Rreya treated her as a friend but most of the rest of the team were simply polite to her, with Jedi Master Kuro acting decidedly cold and detached where she was concerned. She could tell that the woman would make an effort to discourage her master from treating her as anything other than a tool, like a spanner or a welder.

She didn't see it happening with Xander.

If there was one thing that she'd come to learn about her master it was that he placed more importance on the mind and personalities of the people he met, then their species or how they'd been 'born'. To him it didn't matter if you were born in a hospital or on an assembly line. If someone acted like other sentient beings, then he treated them as if they were sentient, with the same rights that others enjoyed. It'd earned him a few odd looks from those who followed the behavior of the majority but either he didn't see them or ignored them as unimportant.

He remained true to himself no matter what came his way.

 _He's an unconventional Jedi in every sense of the word,_ she thought as she entered the lift that would take her to the right level.

When she finally reached the data analysis room, she found that she was the last to arrive, the others having gotten there ahead of her.

"Good. We can now begin," Master Kuro said before pressing a button on the side of the holo-table, causing files to show up. "As I mentioned when I contacted each of you we've finished reviewing the data acquired from Boorka's data core and, while we have forwarded some useful data to the authorities, there was one thing that we felt required our personal attention."

A few quick taps of some buttons and one specific file was enlarged for all to see.

"Amongst the various records of criminal dealings, both his own as well as those of his rivals, we uncovered a file that made several references to a secret cache of property," Kuro said before certain parts of the file began to blink, drawing the attention of everyone on the room. "While we don't have a complete list of what this cache contains, what was mentioned were valuable objects that were stolen from various locations across the galaxy. There are cultural artifacts, weapon prototypes, stacks of valuable metals and minerals. It's enough to make us believe that it's worth a look inside and that it's dangerous enough to that only a team like ours can get inside safely."

"Define dangerous?" Xander asked, sounding worried at the term.

"Thermal mines rigged with bio-sensors that'll trigger detonation if anything bigger than a Wamp Rat tries to pass by them. A mutating plasma net that changes configuration as it moves," Master Kuro replied as she highlighted the relevant part of the file being displayed, "and indications of at least three assassin droids, one of which might be an old but still functional HK-series. Does that clarify things for you, Padawan?"

"Yep," Xander said, looking a little worried by the obstacles ahead of them.

"How soon will we be leaving?" she asked as her mind went to work trying to construct plans for several devices that'd prove useful in disabling or otherwise neutralizing the dead Hutt's security system.

"We will depart tomorrow morning," Master Kuro replied professionally. "I suggest you all make the necessary preparations. Dismissed."

 _I don't have much time,_ she thought as she left the room and immediately began to move to the repair bay at an accelerated pace. _If Boorka's cache is as securely protected as I suspect, then I will need some very custom designed devices and tools to deal with them._

It may even push the database of designs her father had placed in her mind to its limits, both utilizing them as they were and cannibalizing what she needed from each to form something completely new. Still, doing nothing would only result in placing her master in great danger and, while she had the utmost confidence in his abilities, their mission might be more than he could handle and come out unscathed.

With resolve in her eyes she made a promise to herself that she'd do everything she could to complete construction of everything in time for departure.

Given that she was an HRD, she didn't need as much sleep as the rest of the team, so that should be of some help.

 _ **Coruscant Spaceport**_

 _ **Aboard the Stellar Envoy**_

 _ **Xander's POV**_

 _Here's hoping that the drug in these darts works as advertised,_ he thought as he finished loading them into the launcher incorporated into his forearm bracers.

It'd taken him most of last night before he went to bed to find just the right drug for the needs of 'Slade Ordo' but, with Master Jocasta Nu's help, he had succeeded. With the dosage in each dart, the majority of sentient beings in the galaxy would be quickly put into a state that greatly mirrored death and it had a history of fooling all but the most scrutinizing of individuals. As for detection of anything amiss by droids or medical instruments, unless they had in their databanks the specific drug as well as how it affected the target of the time, any lingering life signs would be written off as death throws.

The only catch was that the victim had to receive the counter agent within two hours of fully falling under its effects, the risk of actual death went up aggressively.

True, there were some sentient species he'd have to avoid using it on since their recorded reaction to it was decidedly dangerous and he didn't actually want to kill anyone unless it was necessary or they deserved it. True, it was against the Jedi philosophy to take a life if it could be avoided but he personally believed that, if the death of an evil person could save many innocent lives, then it was permissible even if it could be avoided. Most scum he judged too evil to live would have the resources to break out of any prison they were thrown into and were unlikely to change their ways even if they served out the entirety of their sentence. Old age or a debilitating ailment would likely be the only thing to push the truly evil out of their chosen vocations. The longer they lingered in the Republic, the more damage they'd do and the more lives that would be lost before someone finally stepped up and ended them.

Putting his Mandalorian helmet on, he walked down the corridor of the Stellar Envoy to the boarding ramp since only Erica hadn't arrived yet and he was a little worried. Before their trip to Tatooine he'd believed that his friend's combat skills were formidable enough that nothing short of a Sith could threaten her. After the cyborg, though, and what he'd managed to do to Erica… his mind couldn't help but be worried at the unexplained delay in her arrival. When he arrived at the ramp, he gazed about to all the entrances to the hanger within view for any sign of his friend but as the seconds passed nothing manifested.

"Worried your busy right hand won't get here in time?" a saucy voice asked from behind him, causing him to start a little.

He must've been more distracted than he'd realized if he'd been unable to sense the approach of his fellow Padawan Rreya.

He hoped neither of the Jedi Masters found out or he'd get a lecture about being more mindful of the here and now, as well as showing too much concern for a 'droid'. His past 'independent actions' had caused many of the Knights and Masters to reiterate many of the beliefs and rules that should've prevented him from committing those actions. Add to that their code concerning forming attachments, especially personal ones, and the common sentiment most biological beings had towards droids… him showing worry for a droid would not be well thought of. Not that he gave substantial weight to what they said concerning attachments or Erica. While he was willing to believe that emotions carried greater danger with them for Force sensitives than normal people, he did not believe avoidance or suppression was the correct way to go about handling that danger. To him avoiding or suppressing emotions was a lot like asking someone to swear off everything except bread and water. Sooner or later those Jedi would experience real food as well as drink and be blindsided by the sheer difference and superiority when compared to their usual meals.

Asking Jedi to deny themselves the very emotions that rested at the core of sentient beings everywhere only left them that much less prepared to cope when under siege by them.

Meditation and using the Force to 'release the unwanted emotions from your body' could only do so much.

To him it was far better to accept the fact that the members of the Order were emotional beings and teach them how best to handle sudden onrushes of emotion so as to avoid making ill-chosen choices or get hooked on the Dark Side of the Force. His own… experiences… with the power the Sith prized so much made him think of it much like an addictive narcotic in how it ensnared its victim. It fooled you into believing you had become incredibly powerful, impaired your thought processes and generally introduced a compulsion to delve further into the emotions that had gotten you suckered in the first place. An endless loop feeding on its own processes that was damned hard to break free from until you either saw through the Dark Side's lies or had an astonishing reason to turn your back on it… like a friend or loved one.

For him it'd been a good friend snapping him out of his rage as only she could.

"Considering she probably knows what time it is down to the second without looking at a clock, Rreya, I'm sure she'll get here before we have to leave," he replied, ignoring the various ways 'right hand' could be interpreted, especially by an imaginative mind. "I'm just wondering why she's cutting it so close."

"Considering what Master Kuro said during the briefing, she's probably whipping up some more of her gadgets," Rreya said, sounding half-serious for once. "Even for Jedi, getting past that kind of firepower isn't going to be easy. We're gonna need every resource we've got to keep ourselves alive and in one piece."

 _That could explain why she isn't here,_ he thought, knowing that Erica's inventive abilities could be quite formidable. _I just hope she hasn't lost track of time with all her tinkering._

In the end his concerns turned out to be fruitless since Erica appeared, clad in her Barda outfit, with a pack strapped to her back. It was fairly large and looked like it'd be more at home on one of the larger humanoid species, but his friend showed no sign of strain or discomfort. Judging from the expression on her face, though, she was aware that she was cutting things awfully close.

"Sorry I'm late, Xander!" Erica yelled once she was halfway to the ship. "I had one last thing to put together and it couldn't be rushed."

"No problem, Erica. Just try to factor in the time to whatever it is you make in the future," he said with a reassuring grin. "Now let's get going. With Boorka dead it's only a matter of time before someone makes a play for that cache of his and I think it'd be better if we made what's inside ours. No telling what's inside."

"I'll do as you say," Erica said, bowing her head in subservience.

"You mean if he told you to jump around the room like a Kowakian monkey-lizard, you'd do that too?" Rreya gasped with mocking eagerness.

He had to roll his eyes at this question both because the crimson Twi'lek had a weird sense of humor and because it produced a rather odd image in his head. He barely contained a snort of incredulity but then something happened that he hadn't seen coming.

"Perhaps… under the right circumstances," Erica replied in a tone that implied she was half-serious.

Gaping for a moment, he then shook his head deciding that such nonsense could wait until later.

"Let's get going before Master Kuro decides to tell all three of us to hurry up," he said, turning around and advancing up the ramp of the Stellar Envoy.

He could sense the amusement coming from Rreya and, even though she was not connected to the Force, he just KNEW Erica was amused as well.

"Everyone's aboard, Master!" he yelled in the direction of the cockpit after pressing the button to close the boarding ramp.

A minute later he could hear as the powerful engines of the ship began to power up and, once they reached a certain pitch, there was a slight tremble before he sensed the craft left the ground. After that, though, the inertial damper installed in the Stellar Envoy caused him to be unaware of how fast the ship was moving, leaving only gravity's pull to tell him how the ship was oriented. Fortunately, since the various unsecured objects weren't rolling this way and that Jadak must be taking a more casual route out of Coruscant's atmosphere. Once in open space, a course would be laid in for their destination.

Carnovia.

 _ **The Surface of Carnovia**_

 _ **A Short Distance From Boorka's Cache Building**_

 _ **Sarahari's POV**_

"I do not think I like this place," she said as she stepped out onto the planet.

"Is it because of the humidity or the fact that it's owned by the Hutts?" Xander asked conversationally as he looked about.

"Both. My home world might be as hot as this one but is much less humid," she replied before curling her lip in distaste. "The fact that Hutt food is cultivated here… it nearly turns my stomach."

"All things that live need to eat," Master Kuro chided even as she led the group towards the large fortified structure ahead of them. "Even the Hutts."

"Perhaps but they could do with eating a great deal less," she said with a bit of sarcasm. "It'd make them less repulsive to behold."

"True," Master Kuro said with a mysterious look on her face. "For now let us deal with the first obstacle in our path: the thermal mine field."

Looking ahead she could perceive with her eyes an expanse of open terrain leading right up to the main entrance of Boorka's structure. Some vegetation, a few rocks, but nothing that seemed dangerous.

That was likely the point.

Taking a few experimental sniffs of the air, though, informed her of scents that did indicate the presence of something metallic as well as potentially explosive in close proximity to her. That meant that they were likely underground and had been buried a long time ago so as to allow nature to cover up any signs of where they were located. For a moment she considered having her nose lead them through the minefield but decided that it was too imprecise for dealing with such an explosive situation.

"Okay, so any ideas on getting past mines that'll blow if they sense anything organic that strays into their 'field of vision'?" Xander asked even as it looked like he was trying to come up with a plan of his own.

"Don't worry, Xander," Erica said as she put the pack she'd been carrying down before opening it up. "I have just the thing for getting past this issue."

A few seconds later, after removing four objects from the pack, she stood up looking like everything was going to be okay.

"I present to you four electron field disruptors," Erica explained after gesturing to her gadgets. "Bio-scanners of any sort rely on certain principles. One such principle is detecting the unique bio-electric field generated by organic beings rather than say technology or planetary bodies. These disruptors, placed at thirty foot intervals, will generate an energy field that will prevent the mines from achieving a one hundred percent positive match with their default comparison scan."

"Do they really need a one hundred percent match?" Rreya asked, sounding a little doubtful of the devices.

"As a matter of fact they do, otherwise how would they differentiate between the local animal life and someone sentient trying to steal from Boorka the Hutt?" Erica replied, not sounding offended in the least by the question. "Thanks to my devices they won't be able to get that match and therefore will not detonate even if we decided to tap dance all over them."

"Let's try not to do that, if you don't mind," Xander said, sounding a little uneasy. "I'd rather not find out the hard way that Boorka's security guy got clever and installed pressure sensors on them as well."

"Let's try to think positively, eh Xander?" Rreya asked rhetorically as she used the Force to pick up the field disruptors before laying them out at the prescribed distance between each other up to the front door of the structure.

With the tap of a button on Erica's control band the lights on each of the devices turned on, blinking in an unknown pattern as well as emitting an audible hum. A few seconds later Erica gave a nod to Master Kuro, likely indicating that it was now safe to begin moving towards the door and so, with measured steps, the Jedi Master led the way. It was a tense time for, while she had confidence in Erica's technological abilities, she could not ignore the possibility Xander had pointed out. Blinding the sensors on the mines would prove useless if all it took to set them off was just the right amount of weight pressed down on top of them. Nevertheless she did not let her worries slow her pace and soon they were proven to be fruitless since they arrived at the doors without triggering a single detonation.

"Whew! Let's hope there's a way to shut down the minefield inside," Xander said, looking back the way they came. "I'd rather not go through that again."

"There should be a means by which we can detonate them all at once," Master Kuro said as she went over to a keypad and began typing away at it. "Now to see if Boorka was smart enough to keep the actual access code to himself or dumb enough to put it in the file we acquired."

"Please be dumb! Please be dumb!" Rreya muttered almost in prayer.

"It would seem that either Boorka never considered that someone might find this cache or that the mines would fail to keep intruders from getting this far," Master Kuro said as the door slid open without any problems or dangerous surprises. "Careless."

"Yeah, well, I hope he was just as careless inside as outside," Xander said as they proceeded inside. "I like easy missions. They're a nice change from the terrifyingly difficult ones."

She had to agree that she wouldn't turn away an easy mission but she did not feel as though this one would be one of them. Hutts were notoriously greedy and tended to protect that which they valued with lots of men, blasters and explosives. Add to that the other bits of security mentioned in the file, she felt safe in assuming that there would be dangerous times before the mission was over and done with.

As they walked down the hallways she could see writing in Huttese on the walls but it was not something she cared to read, especially when there were more important things to be concerned about.

ZING! WUMMM!ZING!

KRSH!

Like cameras mounted with blasters!

"Well… it looks like we're HALF lucky. It appears that these things are… automated," Master Kuro said even as she, Knight Keto and Rreya covered the rest of them by deflecting the blaster bolts back the way they came. "There is no intelligence behind these shots. Merely programming."

"Makes sense," Xander said as he used his A280 blaster rifle to pick off armed cameras further down the hall. "If Boorka really wanted to keep his stuff, he wouldn't have hired people to guard the place. Criminals are greedy and there'd be too big a risk of one or more of them deciding to rob him blind."

"It also might mean that there aren't any control interfaces for people to use since it's all run by a program," Knight Keto said as she shut down her lightsaber.

"Doubtful. Even a place like this would require maintenance from time to time, as well as a way to access the systems in order to ensure that they're operating as they should," Master Kuro said as they resumed their march deeper into the building.

"So what's next in our list of hurdles?" Rreya asked, looking about warily as she walked forward.

"Well, since I don't hear the sound of droid feet approaching, the assassin droids must still be offline. That means the mutating plasma net will likely be our next obstacle," Master Kuro said before reaching out with her right hand to crush one of the armed turrets ahead of them. "According to the file, it's installed in the only approach hallway to the main vault."

"Is it on continuously or does something need to trigger it?" Knight Keto asked before doing the same to two clusters of armed turrets hanging from the ceiling.

"Continuously. According to the file, Boorka had some means of deactivating it once he reached them," Master Kuro replied as they pressed onwards. "Since we don't have that, we'll have to rely on Erica's ingenuity to get us past it."

"I already have something prepared," Erica said with a smile even as she shot out another armed turret.

 _I hope so,_ she thought keeping her own blaster out and ready to fire.

AAWOOOO!AAWOOOOO!

"Uh oh! I think things've just been kicked up a notch!" Xander said even as panels began to slide aside, both in the ceiling as well as in the walls.

"Poodoo! The security system must've been programmed to go on alert if too many cameras got destroyed," Erica said as the group worked together to destroy the threats as quickly as they could.

"We knew this would not be easy," Master Kuro said as she deflected a blaster bolt away from their group. "Nevertheless we'll adapt and we will overcome."

It took a while, there were A LOT of hidden turrets, but eventually the chaos in their immediate area came to a close when the final automated blaster was turned into scrap metal. One by one they eased down from their state of alert even as a twitch of wariness lingered in her mind as her people's predatory nature had the ingrained instinct to be ready to pounce the second a threat appeared. Eventually though she managed to return to how she'd felt before the security system let them know it was taking things up a notch.

"We need to pick up the pace," Xander said as he replaced the clip in his blaster rifle. "I'd bet good credits that the assassin droids are online now and heading towards our position. If we want to salvage anything from this place we need to get to the main vault NOW!"

"Agreed. Let's go!" Master Kuro said before breaking into a sprint, following a route known only to her.

She, along with the orders, did likewise, hoping that they could reach the more defensible location of the main vault before encountering the assassin droids.

The tales of how deadly the machines were had been told often amongst her people.


	3. Calamitous to momentous

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted materials contained herein. They are the rightful property of their respective creators and/or associated companies. I make no profit from this whatsoever and I have no intention of changing this in the future. I write because it's fun and because some people enjoy reading my stories. Therefore I would appreciate it if no legal action were taken against me.

PS-Positive reviews will be appreciated. Constructive criticism will be considered but not necessarily acted upon. People looking to take a dump on my work in an effort to ruin my day will at the very least be ignored and the very most will be review blocked.

 _ **Inside Boorka's Cache Building**_

 _ **Xander's POV**_

 _Why can't it EVER be easy!?_ he thought as he threw a thermal detonator around the corner into the corridor they needed to go down.

BBOOOOMM!

"How are you doing for ammunition, Xander?" Erica said even as she jumped out into the intersection of hallways, taking in the environment in seconds before relaxing her guard somewhat.

"Don't worry about me," he said even as he raised his blaster rifle into a ready position. "I made sure to bring as much ammo as I could carry without slowing me down any. So long as we don't run into an army of battle droids, I'll be fine."

True, if they were atop a Hellmouth, saying something like that would guarantee the appearance of such an army but since they weren't he felt safe enough in speaking freely.

"We're not too far away from the corridor to the main vault," Master Kuro said as they went back on the move. "If the defenses are going to be strongest anywhere it'll be there. Be ready."

"I'm always ready, Master," he said with a grin that no one could see thanks to his Mandalorian helmet.

"No one is always ready," Master Kuro chastised with a brief glance back at him. "That is because the galaxy is filled with so many things it is impossible for any one being to be knowledgeable about them all. The unknown is something you can only be ready for by learning more about it until it becomes unknown no longer."

While a little more long winded than he'd have liked, he understood what his Master meant. He'd done the best he could in his studies to learn all he could about the races known to the Jedi but, with so many inhabited worlds, so many sub-species and other forms of life, knowing everything about all of them was impossible. Even learning everything about the more notorious criminals of the Republic would take quite a while, especially since being notorious could change the criminal landscape at any time. Still, he'd read the file about this cache from top to bottom on the trip to Carnovia, so he'd like to think he knew what to expect both from ahead of them as well as from behind them and armed himself accordingly.

It would have to be enough one way or another.

"I understand, Master," he said even as they turned another corner into a hallway that, thankfully, was without blaster turrets, hidden or otherwise.

A nod was all he got as they entered an area with a decidedly different architecture and decorative design than what they'd beholden up until then.

"I'd say we're getting closer to the main vault," Rreya said, looking at the changes with disapproval. "Can't say I like the new décor, though. Makes me think that Hutts are either color blind or completely lacking in taste."

"Different things look cool to different people, Rreya," he said even though privately he agreed with her about the new décor.

"Well, if the Council ever decides to give the job of redesigning the Temple to a Hutt construction crew, I'm moving someplace else," she said with a shake of her head.

"Then I hope wherever you decide to live has room for two because I'll be joining you," he said in a half-humorous manner.

"Then I hope you have credits, 'cause rent isn't going to be cheap," she said back at him with a smile.

He could only chuckle at this but as he noticed Master Kuro's leading pace slow down, he realized that they'd reached their destination. The three way intersection they'd come to was different from the others because the hallway to their left was decidedly bigger than the others and a light was coming from down it. With weapons ready they crept forward and, when they reached the center of the intersection, they were able to see precisely what a mutating plasma net looked like.

It was not encouraging.

A honeycomb of lenses decorated all surfaces whether they it was the wall, ceiling or floor. Stretching from one side of the hallway to the other were beams of plasma that crackled in the air and created a constantly changing pattern of interconnection between them. From what he could tell there was never an opening larger than an inch between each beam at any one time, with those openings appearing then disappearing with every second. It was a formidable obstacle that wouldn't be overcome by lightsabers or blasters. While the former could conceivably deflect the plasma beams, or at least absorb them, they couldn't cover all the angles they might come at. The latter wouldn't work either because any glass or focusing lenses strong enough to channel the plasma wouldn't be affected in the least by blaster fire.

 _Time to see what sort of tricks Erica has up her sleeve,_ he thought as he looked towards the HRD.

"Impressive. I wasn't expecting it to be so intricate," Erica said, sounding a little impressed. "Boorka must've shelled out some serious credits to get this made."

"You mean you can't get us past it?" Knight Keto asked, sounding discouraged.

"You're forgetting who you're talking to!" Erica replied with a cocky smile. "This might be a bit more than I was expecting but past experience with Xander has taught me to expect things to get more complicated on missions. Now watch me work!"

He had to smile at the woman's confidence even as he watched her dig through the contents of her backpack for what she wanted. Every once in a while she'd take something out and set it aside but even with a minute of deductive reasoning he couldn't figure out what his friend intended to do in order to get them past the plasma net. It seemed to be an odd collection of lenses, some components he recognized as belonging to a repulsorlift and some rather high grade plasma conduits, but he couldn't figure out how they would come together to be useful in solving their dilemma.

Fortunately, after Erica removed the final component from her pack, she began to assemble her solution at a rather impressive and superhuman rate of speed. In less than seven seconds the device was ready but he still had no real clue as to its purpose.

"Um… nice gadget. What's it do?" Rreya asked bluntly, sounding as confused as he felt.

"Well, before we left the Temple I did some research on plasma nets to get an idea of what we'd be facing. Turns out they're quite formidable if you don't have the controller to shut them off," Erica replied as she began to tap away on her control band. "Most times people up against them use explosives to get past them but that tactic can wind up bringing the building down on your head. So I thought to myself: why not make the plasma beams do all the hard work?"

Watching as the lenses attached to the outside of the device adjusted themselves to varying degrees, he began to get an inkling of what would be attempted.

"By placing this device in the middle of the plasma net I will turn its power back upon itself, destroying it," Erica said with pride as she continued to manipulate the controls on her forearm. "Normally this wouldn't be possible due to the changing patterns but thankfully with my advanced reaction times, perceptual abilities and predictive algorithms, I'll have no trouble keeping up. I'll have the net down in no time."

With that the device began to drift towards the plasma net, its lenses continually adjusting themselves as they went until finally they made contact. It was dazzling to watch the device in action as it took one beam's power to destroy another but the occasional wobble made him worry that the gadget might've bitten off a bit more than it could chew. Things only got worse when the beams further down the hallway changed their direction to converge on the device's position, which was likely a part of the program meant to go into effect if too many of the emitters closer to their position going offline. However, watching Erica's fingers be reduced to blurs and seconds go by without the device being destroyed kept hope from being lost. In the end only ninety percent of the emitters were destroyed before Erica's device was reduced to a smoldering scrap pile.

"Guess next time I'll have to double the size and number of lenses," Erica said with only mild disappointment.

"Your invention did its job, Erica. With only ten percent of the emitters still functional Padawan Rreya, Knight Keto and myself will be able to deal with them allowing us to proceed," Master Kuro said with a moderately impressed tone in her voice. "Well done."

"It's why I'm here, Master Kuro." Erica said with a grin of gratitude.

Walking up to his friend, he put a congratulatory hand on her shoulder before saying, "Good job, Erica."

The smile she sent him made it clear how much his words meant to her and together they advanced with the group to the large vault door that from what he could tell was the last obstacle in their way. Still, he couldn't help but wonder where the assassin droids were and why they hadn't put in an appearance yet. The alarm had sounded quite a while ago and yet they hadn't encountered anything.

 _I've got a bad feeling about this,_ he thought before making sure he had a full charge in his blaster rifle and checking the status of his weapons.

 _ **Outside of the Vault**_

 _ **Padawan Rreya's POV**_

"What's taking so long?" she asked even as her eyes darted from left to right, fully expecting a new threat to appear at any moment.

Much like she suspected was the case with the other members of her team, she was wondering where the assassin droids were and why they hadn't attacked yet. Any sensible security program would've brought them online the second confirmation of intruder presence was made and directed them to the last known position of the intruders. Yet nothing had happened and nothing had shown up. It made leku twitch with anxiety and she wanted that to stop as soon as possible.

"The vault has a twelve digit combination with a voice print analyzer," Erica replied even as she worked on the wiring behind the panel she'd removed just below the numbered keypad. "Couple that with what looks like a booby trap linked to the main power grid and opening this door can't be rushed."

She had to concede that those were pretty formidable obstacles that could not be rushed, especially if the booby trap led to a massive power supply boom like she suspected. Still, just standing in the middle of a demolished plasma net waiting for trouble to find them did not sit well with her.

"Calmness, Padawan," Knight Keto said in a soothing tone of voice. "We are unharmed, we are still well armed and our position means that for the moment any threats can only come at us from a single direction. As situations go, it could be worse."

"Yeah, Rreya. Boorka could've had three Rancor chained outside this place with cybernetic weapon implants on their bodies," Xander said casually from his place leaning against the wall to the right of the vault door. "Or instead of alarms the security system could've locked down the place before releasing a toxic nerve agent that'd put us through tortuous pain before killing us. Personally I would've-"

"That's quite enough, Padawan," Master Kuro said sternly before her friend's imagination could come up with any more horrific images.

"Yes, Master," Xander said, sounding properly chastised.

Too bad that, thanks to the jump start the son of Yoda and the protégé of Mace Windu had given her imagination, she was able to come up with troubling possibilities all on her own. Fortunately, before it got to the point where she'd start pacing, a positive sounding beep echoed in the air, causing her to turn around just in time to see the vault doors begin to part. From the sound of it the doors were in need of maintenance because there was definitely some grinding and screeching going on. Judging from the cringing Sarahari was doing, her Cathar sense of hearing was being particularly affected but it only lasted for half a minute more before the doors finished opening to reveal what lay within.

Taking it all in, the place looked like a combination of museum exhibit and hoarding pile, with special cases for the more impressive looking items, stands for the moderately valuable items and the rest laying in piles scattered throughout the room. Toydaria, Corellia, Utapau and at least a dozen other worlds could be connected to some of the items she beheld, with most of them looking valuable enough that they probably used to belong to someone powerful. She could also see shelves of data disks on either side of what looked to be a one of a kind computer that might be even more advanced than the ones in the Jedi Temple. There were also weapon racks with items on it that ranged from primitive metal melee weapons to blasters that she was willing to believe were one of a kind, judging by their design.

"By the sacred Blood Hunt…" Sarahari gasped in what sounded like awe.

Turning to see what had the cat woman so stunned, she watched the Cathar walking towards one particular weapon rack where weapons that looked like a cross between modern and primitive rested. It turned out that only one weapon mattered to Sarahari: a vibrosword with a long double edged blade with a shorter one running parallel to it and a reverse v-shaped hilt guard. The grip of the weapon was made to be wielded by two hands with a bisected square shaped pommel at the bottom.

"A Catharian Honor Sword… from the days of the Old Republic no less…" Sarahari said as she took the weapon off the rack to hold in a loose ready position.

"You sure it isn't a forgery?" Xander asked, sounding tentatively suspicious. "I imagine there's something of a market for 'discovered artifacts'."

"It is real," Sarahari said before pointing to a set of symbols engraved on the hilt guard. "These symbols denote the weapon belonging to a Catharian clan of some repute."

"So?" she asked, not understanding the significance of what amounted to a sign of ownership.

"This particular clan was wiped out over three and a half millennia ago by the Sith Empire," Sarahari replied before letting her eyes wander of the weapon again. "They were the only whole Catharian clan to fight alongside the Republic against the Sith. At the time in question while there were many among my people who joined the war effort all but this clan chose to keep enough of its number on the home world to ensure the continuation of their bloodlines. The clan to whom this vibrosword belonged did not."

"I take it that since you seem rather impressed by the weapon this clan managed to accomplish many victories and committed many acts of daring?" Master Kuro asked even as she continued to survey the room.

"Indeed. According to the tales they fought alongside the great Jedi Revan and succeeded in liberating the capital city of an important world, just to name two of their accomplishments," Sarahari replied before a questioning look appeared on her face. "Would it be possible for me to keep this? It deserves to be returned to my home world to be placed in location of respect."

"That's the plan. To return as many of these items to their lawful owners as possible," Knight Keto said as she looked at a set of armor behind glass. "As for the rest, if no lawful owners can be located they'll be donated to those people who can make the best use of them."

"Thank you," Sarahari said with significant gratitude.

"We're going to need to deal with the security system before we can begin loading all of this onto the Stellar Envoy," Erica said as she moved over to the sophisticated computer. "We might've cleared most of the problems out of the way but most is not all and we still haven't dispatched the assassin droids the file said were here. I'm not a fan of trying to load stuff into a ship while being shot at or blown up. I'm gonna see if I can deactivate the security system using this computer."

"Good call. If Boorka ever fled here he could lock himself inside the vault and control everything from that computer," Xander said, nodding in agreement as he moved towards a collection of technology she couldn't see clearly enough.

"See something you like, Xander Windu?" she asked humorously as she moved to get a better look.

"Maybe," he replied as he began to move the various items around to get at what had his attention.

It took awhile but when he was done he picked up something that was instantly recognizable.

A Mandalorian jet pack.

Looked to be of the same era as Sarahari's Honor Sword, both due to its design as well as the wear and tear she saw scattered all over it. There were signs that someone had tried to restore it to full functionality but had either abandoned the task or put it on hold until some choice components could be acquired.

"It would appear that the Force is with you, Padawan," Master Kuro said at the sight of the piece of technology. "The one piece of your armor that you were lacking is the one piece you now have."

She was about to make a comment about how the thing looked like it'd sooner explode the second someone tried to activate it than do its job but was given a very good reason to hold her tongue.

A HK-24 assassin droid and an IG-86 sentinel droid stepped out of hidden compartments, with blaster rifles in hand right as the vault doors slammed shut.

"I'm beginning to wonder if that's a good thing, Master," Xander said as the assassin droids opened fire.

As she brought up and ignited her lightsaber she found herself oddly agreeing with her fellow Padawan even as she deflected the blaster bolts sent in her direction.

This was not going to be easy.

 _ **Xander's POV**_

"Did you press anything on the computer, Erica?" he asked even as he sought cover with his chosen prize behind a display case that held some impressive looking combat armor.

He didn't care all that much about its appearance, though, just that it proved strong enough to protect him from the incoming blaster fire.

"NO! I swear I didn't touch a single button before they showed up," Erica said, sounding afraid that he might be mad at her.

"Then it must've been either me or Sarahari when we touched the contents of the vault," he said even as he peeked around the corner of the display case, only to jerk back to avoid getting a blaster bolt to the head. "Not a bad plan for the security program. Lock us in with the killers the second we let our guard down. The only flaw I can see is that it risks damaging Boorka's property."

"Can you PLEASE not admire the deadly scenario that could KILL us?!" Rreya exclaimed even as she used her lightsaber to block the blaster shots aimed at her.

"While our situation is serious, Padawan, it is not yet that dire," Master Kuro said even as she began to advance towards the HK-24 assassin droid. "They may be dangerous but they're not undefeatable. Erica! Sarahari! Cover fire!"

The HRD and the Catharian female focused their fire on the HK, forcing it to duck behind a collection of containers to avoid being hit. Just like the tales of Revan's HK-47 droid, the crimson machine moved differently from other droids and seemed to have a life of its own. Granted, the intelligence and creative ability of a droid depended a lot on who created it, but there was always a sense of… limitation when he looked at other metallic droids. In Erica's case she was a masterpiece crafted in such a way so as to make her indistinguishable from humans physically, with only those trained in the Force able to tell at a glance that she was artificial. These assassin droids gave the distinct impression that they could think, could create, and plan beyond what had originally been programmed into their artificial brains.

Good for the droids but not so for anyone on the receiving end of their blasters.

Watching as Master Kuro advanced on the HK, he decided to direct his fire to the IG model that Knight Keto was trying to get close to with only minimal success. While skilled with a lightsaber, it looked like she wasn't skilled enough on her own to easily swat aside the IG unit's fire so he decided to lend a hand. Timing his shots to whenever it looked like the droid appeared to have a steady lock on the Jedi Knight, he fired at the shoulders or the arms to cause the barrel to jerk to the right or left. It would've been nice to just kill the assassin droid with one shot but, while not as resistant to his weapon as the cyborg had been on Tatooine, the armor on the IG droid was still quite durable. There were signs of damage, signs that his shots would eventually break through if he hit the same spot a few more times, but given how agile it was proving to be that'd take some time to do.

Keeping it distracted for Knight Keto to slice in half would be the better choice.

Pulling the trigger only to get nothing he realized his energy clip had run dry so with all due speed he popped it out before sliding another one in. However when he looked back at the IG droid, he found further aid would not be required since Keto was now within striking distance of the assassination machine and was able to keep close to it despite its speed and agility. Turning back to the HK droid, he saw that the support both Erica and Sarahari had provided had aided his Master well for she too had reached her target. The so-called 'Dark Woman' kept a set distance in place between herself and the HK-24 droid, either deflecting its shots or attempting to neutralize it as a threat by disarming it or cutting it in half. Against a lesser Jedi the assassin droid might've stood a chance but against a Jedi Master of Kuro's skill, its efforts merely delayed the inevitable.

Thus eight moves later and the predecessor of Revan's HK-47 suddenly found itself lacking hands and a head.

After that it became child's play to deal with the IG droid quickly and permanently.

"Well that was fun!" he said, trying to make it sound like they'd just been on an amusement park ride. "Anyone want to do it again?"

"NO!" the others managed to say miraculously at the exact same time, albeit at different volume.

"Me neither," he said, showing he had a similar opinion of what they'd just been through. "Let's get the security system offline so we can start loading up the goods. The sooner we're off this planet, the better I'll feel."

It was then that the screen on the advanced computer began to flash red even as Huttese characters began alter in a pattern that was alarmingly familiar.

"Please tell me that isn't a countdown in Huttese," he said with a remarkably calm voice.

"It is," Erica said even as she raced to the computer and began to go to work on it at what he suspected was the maximum of her HRD speed and dexterity. "Whoever designed the security system for this place definitely didn't want anyone who broke in to have any time to enjoy their moments of triumph. We've got five minutes before the self-destruct goes off, taking out everything within five hundred yards of the place."

"Can you disarm it?" he asked, not liking the sound of that even trying to calculate how far all of them could get to the front doors before the place went boom.

"What do you think I'm trying to do?!" she asked rhetorically, a bit of an edge to her voice. "Just let me work!"

Shutting up, he looked to the others to see if they had any bright ideas.

"Can we make it out if we start running right now?" Rreya asked, looking like she hoped that the answer was yes.

"No. Even with the defenses that we destroyed on our way in, this system has thrown too many surprises at us to make me believe that it doesn't have something else in place," Master Kuro replied after a moment's contemplation. "With that delaying us we would at best get within sight of the outside before detonation."

"What about getting to the power core itself and shutting it down from there?" Sarahari asked, proposing a different course of action.

"We have no idea where it is and, if doors as solid as the vault's have slid into place to protect it, we would not be able to cut through in time," Knight Keto replied, rejecting that plan.

"Then I guess it's all up to Erica then," he said, turning back to his friend to watch as she worked.

That didn't mean that he or anyone else was free from stress because, while they had faith in Erica's abilities, skill meant little if you didn't have time enough to do what you wanted to do. In this case, if the amount of time left proved too short for the HRD to disarm the self-destruct, they'd all get to find out what it was like to become one with the Force.

 _At least death by explosion is usually quite quick and painless,_ he thought with only a little sarcasm as he watched one of the Huttese numbers vanish, indicating a significant change in time left.

Looking at Master Kuro and Knight Keto, he saw that they had knelt down on the floor, assuming a meditative pose possibly to purge any feelings of fear or anxiety. A valid course of action but not one he'd be taking since he doubted that he'd be able to clear his mind enough to successfully enter a meditative state.

Possible impending death could do that to a person.

Turning to Sarahari and Rreya he could see that they were faring a little worse than him since the physical signs of their rising anxiety were quite obvious to his eyes. He didn't even need to tap into the Force to get a read on their emotional states to know that their emotions were becoming increasingly more tumultuous. Sarahari's feline-like ears were twitching with increasing frequency and the crimson Twi'lek's pacing was gaining in speed as well as sharpness. Odds were that it wouldn't take long before Rreya would use her lightsaber to cut through the vault door and take her chances running for the exit. He could certainly understand that since a similar course of action was dancing around his own mind, albeit with what thermal detonators he had left in place of a lightsaber, but odds were by the time Rreya got that afraid it'd already be too late to run for it. Still, if she wanted to spend her last few minutes fighting for her life rather than quietly accepting death, he wouldn't get in her way.

If there was one thing he'd learned in his life it was that too many people just accepted defeat, accepted their fate, when as long as they were alive the chance to change things remained.

Granted, the last seconds, minutes or hours of ones life should be used as carefully as possible in order to bring about that change rather than running around doing whatever seemed like a good idea at the time, but no one was perfect. Looking about the interior of the vault, he evaluated everything around him to see if any of it could prove useful to keeping them alive. There were a lot of weapons but none of them powerful enough to blast a direct route to the outside and, even if there had been, it was likely that using one within the confines of the vault would probably do them in anyway. While there was plenty of armor of various types, he seriously doubted that any of them were rated to protect the wearer from a blast big enough to level a building like the one they were in.

"C'mon, C'MON!" Erica growled, never breaking her rate of typing or looking away from the computer screen. "Give it up, you overgrown, exaggerated piece of hardware!"

He could tell that the dwindling amount of time was getting to the HRD but at the same time he believed that it also sharpened her focus. So long as chaos did not envelope her mind, the increase in pressure would push her mind to its limit and in doing so maximize the odds of her succeeding. He kept quiet, no encouraging words, so as not to distract her from her task.

In the end it proved to be enough as the screen shifted from red to green and the Huttese numbered countdown came to an end.

"THAT… was a little too close for comfort!" Erica declared as she sagged down to her knees, her arms limp at her side.

"No boom?" he asked, hoping for a simple confirmation that they weren't going to die by explosion anytime soon.

"No boom," she replied with a relieved smile on her face. "In fact I successfully managed to bring down the entire security system with that impressive bit of program slicing. We should be able to load the vault's contents into the Stellar Envoy without any trouble at all."

"Then let's get started before something ELSE tries to kill us," Rreya said with a tone of urgency, making it clear she'd feel more at ease on the Envoy than in the vault.

He was in complete agreement with her.

 _ **Outside of Boorka's Cache**_

 _ **Jedi Master Kuro's POV**_

"Is that the last of it?" Jadak asked as she levitated a large crate of precious metals up the boarding ramp of the Stellar Envoy.

"The last that can be squeezed into your ship's holds," she replied as the man followed her inside. "The rest will have to remain where it is until a Republic ship can get here to retrieve it all."

It had taken some calculated positioning of the vault's contents in the Stellar Envoy's cargo holds to get as much in as they could but she reckoned that they'd managed to load two thirds in without too much difficulty. She'd prioritized cultural artifacts of significance and weapons that were too dangerous to risk allowing disreputable beings to claim and then filled in the rest with precious metals and the data disks that'd been on either side of the computer. Naturally she'd allowed her Padawan to bring the jetpack and Sarahari the Catharian Honor Sword, since the items would do more good in their hands than in the hands of whoever made the best offer. The HRD Erica had already made a visual appraisal of the jetpack and had stated that she was confident that she would be able to make it fully functional in time for the next mission. While somewhat dubious about this, given the gap in time that existed between the jetpack's creation and the present, she was willing to give the humanoid droid the benefit of a doubt.

"Hopefully it'll still be here when the ship arrives," Jadak said as he leaned against his ship. "A lot of people are probably picking Boorka's palace clean right now, including the database. Depending on whether or not the power surge from the blown up generators fried the hardware, we might not be the only ones who know about this place."

"It is a chance we will have to take," she said as she reached the top of the ramp. "We have no more room and this is not a region of space frequently travelled by Republic forces. Even if we transmit a request the moment we escape the planet's atmosphere, the soonest a ship could arrive will be two days."

It took her only three minutes to reach her destination and, with only a little careful manipulation, she set her crate in its place before walking back towards the ramp to see if her Padawan and his HRD had gleaned anything more from the vault's computer. While it was likely that all information of importance was contained on the data disks, it was worth the effort to see if more could be found on the computer itself.

Reaching the ramp, she placed herself in a meditative position and contemplated the future of both her as well as her Padawan. While his artificial personae of 'Slade Ordo' would likely see more use than conventional Jedi robes, it still reminded her of an item the young man was currently lacking.

A lightsaber.

While many of the mechanical parts could be found just about anywhere, there was one component that could be found only on one planet and it was a closely guarded Jedi secret.

The planet Ilum was an ice planet in the unknown regions and one of the few places Adegan crystals could be found. Such crystals were crucial to the successful creation of lightsabers since there were precious few substances capable of focusing and channeling the energy into a blade-like form. Other, less durable ones either melted or shattered when they came into contact with the energy.

She would need to inquire once they were back on Coruscant when the next batch of Jedi initiates was scheduled to make the trip there. While it would be a bit irregular, given the age difference between Xander and the initiates, it was still a necessary step. It could perhaps even prove beneficial for her Padawan to be in the presence of initiates since they had undergone the groundwork that he had missed out on due to his 'improvised' lesson plans. While she had faith in the Jedi Council, she did not believe that they should have given him special treatment by instructing him personally. They should've treated him no different than any other potential Jedi entering the Temple for the first time to begin learning the Jedi way. By sending him with the next group to Ilum, she would affect some measure of remedy against their ill chosen decision while also allowing him to construct a new lightsaber.

Sensing her Padawan approach, she opened her eyes and saw that he seemed to be having a somewhat heated discussion about something, making her wonder what that could be. It didn't last long as their expressions calmed and their spoken words ended but she still thought it might be prudent to inquire as to what the problem was just in case it was something she should know.

"Is there something the matter?" she asked once the duo reached the bottom of the Stellar Envoy's boarding ramp.

"Xander… decided to make a statement using one of the paintings of Boorka in the vault," Erica replied somewhat reluctantly. "He… underestimated the piercing potential of his weapon. It… damaged the computer. It'll need to be repaired before anyone can resume examining its contents for useful information."

"Leaving 'statements' is not the mark of a 'professional soldier for hire', Padawan Xander," she chastised, looking at her student. "I would suggest that the next time you have the urge to do something like that you suppress it. Understood?"

"Yes, master," Xander replied, sounding sufficiently reprimanded.

"Good. While I would have preferred that Erica finish her work, the damage you've done should at the very least keep the others from accessing the data," she said, letting the matter drop for the time being. "Now let's get on board and be on our way. We need to get back to Coruscant and offload what we found as soon as possible."

Nods all around were all that were needed for her to turn around and walk deeper into the ship with the other two following her.

"All crew and cargo are aboard, Captain," she said upon reaching the bridge. "Let's head back to Coruscant."

"Roger that, Master Kuro," Jadak said as he began going through the Stellar Envoy's preflight checklist. "Let's get us some space Reeze."

Within moments the scenery of the planet fell away as they rose up into the air and she knew that within minutes it'd be replaced with black space littered with glittering stars in all directions. While she did not say so often, it was the little things, the transition between planet and space, that still made her feel a sense of wonder about the universe. Even with all the scientific knowledge that had been obtained since the first sentient ascended into space the universe still had things that could stir the soul and prove themselves beyond the understanding of mortal beings. It reaffirmed her belief that the Force was so much more than anything they could comprehend that it was almost laughable that any among the Order could truly call themselves 'Master'.

She was just about to return to their improvised quarters so she could begin to instruct her Padawan when something more important came up.

BBBBOOOOOMMMM!

"What the Force!?" Jadak exclaimed as the ship shook violently.

"It wasn't an attack," Reeze stated after utilizing the ship's sensors to learn more. "No damage to the ship but the shields took a bit of a hit. Looks like we just got hit with a pretty impressive shockwave."

Shockwave?

"Can you bring us around to get a look at Boorka's storage building?" she asked, having a suspicion about what'd just happened.

"No problem," Jadak said as he piloted the ship to do what she wanted.

Her suspicions were confirmed a few moments later when, instead of the building looking like she remembered it, there was now a large, smoldering crater that encompassed the entire property. Apparently the self-destruct program that Erica had disabled had either reactivated or something had triggered a cascade effect that set off the power source. Considering the timing of it all, she believed that she'd been a bit too lenient with her chastisement of her Padawan since it was possible that the shot he'd fired had damaged a system that led to the explosion. Given that none of the briefing data included technical schematics of the building, it was somewhat unlikely that he'd knowingly done it since it could only have been random chance that his shot had hit such a volatile target. Add to that the fact that there had been a convenient delay that allowed them to get out of blast radius, thus avoiding damage to the ship or the people aboard, and it was even less likely that what'd happened had been intentional.

Nevertheless it would be best if she informed him about what'd happened since it'd be adequate incentive against future careless actions.

When she arrived in their improvised quarters she could tell that the others were curious about why the Stellar Envoy had shaken so violently minutes ago.

She would be happy to educate them.

"That disturbance you all just felt was Boorka's facility blowing up," she said, looking her Padawan right in the eye before letting her gaze pass over the rest of the room's occupants. "While it will likely take an investigation of the scene to determine more, I'd wager that somehow the building's self-destruct program was reactivated. Now, how do you suppose that could've happened?"

She could tell that her Padawan was quick to connect the dots and had reached the same conclusion as she had and looked decidedly guilty. It was a more pleasing reaction than a defensive one or an attempt to shift the blame to someone or something else. Even among the Jedi Order there were those who reflexively tried to escape blame for mishaps that they were involved in though they were usually the young or the overconfident.

"It might not have been, Xander!" Erica declared loyally. "Maybe there was some other security measure we missed that set off the self-destruct. The odds of a single blaster bolt hitting something and causing a chain reaction yet conveniently giving us time to escape… it'd be astronomical!"

"Perhaps. Nevertheless, future missions will likely put us in environments we are unfamiliar with and a careless action could have devastating consequences," she said, conceding the HRD's point. "Unless you know precisely what your tools are capable of and the affect they'll have on the objects in range, I suggest you exercise some restraint."

"I will," Xander said with genuine regret.

A nod of acknowledgement was all she performed in response.

She hoped she would not need to perform a repeat of this lecture in the future.

Contrary to what some might think, she wanted only the best for her Padawans.

 _ **A Jedi Transport Descending Towards The Planet Illum**_

 _ **Xander's POV**_

 _I always did want to find out what it'd be like to be held back twelve grades,_ he thought as he started getting into the snow gear that'd been provided for them.

By them he meant himself and the five Jedi initiates, kids, really, that were aboard the Jedi transport heading towards the destination of Illum. The purpose of the trip was to perform the Gathering, an event that served both as general training as well as a rite of passage, so that initiates could officially begin their training as Padawan learners. The part of the event that caught the attention of most initiates was that this was where they would gain the crystal they needed to create their own lightsaber. When he'd first begun his lessons in the Temple he'd assumed that the field weapons were manufactured in bulk and then issued them to those who were deemed skilled enough to use them without hurting someone by accident. After all, the training lightsabers were easy enough to come by and he'd already proven that in the field a modified one could serve as well as the ones wielded by full knights and masters. It was only later when he'd asked about the manufacturing process that he'd gotten a glare from Master Windu, followed by a statement that each Jedi created their lightsaber as a rite of passage after first arriving at the Temple on Coruscant.

While certain components remained the same for all lightsabers, there were other elements that were unique to each Jedi.

He hadn't been told any more than that so it'd only been a day ago when Master Kuro had informed him that he'd be joining the initiates that he'd remembered. He hadn't been crazy about joining them since being sent on a trip with kids that didn't even reach his chest was too much like being held back in school. It offended his pride. Kuro had immediately sensed this and pointedly told him that Jedi had no pride. It was this flaw that the Sith had in abundance and led to the defeat of many a person who let it take control of him. Grudgingly he had to admit that the whole 'pride goeth before a fall' saying made a lot of sense and had been how the gang had overcome many a vamp back in Sunnydale. So he'd agreed to go along with the whole 'Gathering' thing and prepared himself accordingly.

When he'd walked onto the landing pad the next day he'd beheld a motley assortment of Jedi initiates and, like he'd expected, none of them were tall enough to go above his chest. A Jenet male, a human female, a Zabrak female, a Bothan male and an Iktotchi female made up the group and naturally, when their eyes had fallen on him, the whispering and the gossiping had started but thankfully not as much as there'd been in the weeks after he'd first appeared in the Jedi Temple. He'd figured that they were just wondering why someone so older and more experienced than them was going to get something he should've already obtained years ago. Araan, the Zabrak girl, had been the only one to approach him to talk, asking the usual questions. She hadn't asked them like a little girl who was curious but rather like someone preparing a report or weighing options. It fit with what he'd learned about the Zabrak people, who had a reputation for a dominant need for self-determination and independence. While Araan had likely been brought to the Temple when she was quite young, she'd likely lived with her people long enough to pick up some of their beliefs.

How much of Zabrak behavior was learned and how much was written into their genetics he didn't know but at least he'd had someone to talk to during the trip to Ilum.

Now they'd arrived at their destination and already he didn't like it.

While it might've been years since he'd last stood on Californian soil, that didn't change the fact that he preferred warmer environments. As soon as the boarding ramp began to lower their group was hit with a blast of snow and cold air, instantly making him envy those among them with fur or a higher tolerance for the cold. Following Jedi Knight Siri Tachi, the woman who'd been put in charge of their group, they walked through the ice and snow until they reached what looked to be a wall of ice pillars tall enough that getting to the top of even one would take awhile.

"It's a dead end," the Iktotchi female, Pennius, said, pointing out what was blatantly obvious to anyone.

 _Not the most original statement but it's not like the girl has seen enough galactic pop culture to do better,_ he thought with only a slight roll of his eyes. _Personally I would've gone with something like 'MY that's a big wall you have' or 'you know what would be perfect here? A DOOR'._

"All of you, stretch out your hands, focus the Force," Knight Tachi declared as she looked at the group. "Together and ONLY together can we enter."

 _So it's a hidden door that you can only open with the Force of a group,_ he thought as he raised his right hand and focused the Force on the pillars directly in front of them. _Or maybe it just takes Force power equivalent to a group to make the door open._

Whatever the truth was the results were impressive; with the shaking of the ground and tumbling of loose ice fragments the pillars directly in front of them sunk downward to reveal an entrance more in keeping with what he'd been expecting. Proceeding as a group they entered into a circular room with tall statues of Jedi going all the way to a ceiling that was VERY high up and at the center of that ceiling was an odd arrangement of metal suspended crystals. It looked like a mix between a solar system model and a decorative arrangement of prisms but he couldn't quite figure out what its purpose was.

Looking ahead, he was a bit surprised to see Jedi Master Adi Galia waiting for them atop a large block of ice.

"A Jedi is the Force made physical," Master Galia said, addressing the group as a whole as Knight Tachi walked over to stand next to the High Council member. "With that status comes a great deal of responsibility. Now I have a question for you: how does a Jedi protect others?"

"With the Force," Araan replied with confidence.

"With their mind," the human female Kara replied a few moments later.

"Both are good answers but the one I am looking for in this instance is this," Master Galia said before taking her lightsaber off of her belt and igniting it for all to see.

The blue blade hummed and he could see how the younglings were fixated on it, no doubt recalling many stories they'd been told of Jedi adventures. To him there wasn't all that much to impress him about it since he'd used one himself thanks to Erica and had seen others put to good use during the Battle of Geonosis.

"You have reached the point in your training where the time has come to build your own lightsaber," Master Galia declared before shutting down her weapon and returning it to its place on her belt. "First you must find the crystal that will become the heart of your lightsaber. It is with the help of this crystal that a Jedi can focus the Force allowing them to do incredible things."

Falling silent, the Jedi that had contributed some of her DNA to create his current form reached with one arm up towards the collection of crystals hanging from the center of the ceiling. As if moved by unseen hands the crystals began to rotate until they settled into a completely new configuration and a moment later the point of this became clear. As the crystals once again became still, the light coming in through a window near the roof hit them, resulting in a single beam of focused heat that struck a point over a tall archway. It must've been wicked hot because buckets full of water flowed down from the wall of ice within the archway, going into channels carved into the floor. By the time it was all done a new direction to go had been opened and, seeing how the only other one was the entrance to the entire structure, he'd wager it was where he'd be going next.

"Through that are caves where your crystals may be found but only you will be able to identify which one is meant for you," Knight Tachi said, importance imbued into each word. "However keep in mind that as the sun travels through the skies of Ilum, the ice within the archway will begin to reform. If you fail to find your crystal and return here before sunset you will be trapped within until the next planetary rotation."

"Which would be when, exactly?" he asked, figuring it'd be good to know just in case complications arose.

"According to the movements of the planets in this system and, more importantly, Ilum…" Master Galia replied, sounding like she was drawing out her reply on purpose, "…nineteen days."

"Right," he said, imagining how frozen he'd be after that long. "Tardiness equals popsicle."

"Now go and let the Force guide you to what you seek," Master Galia said peacefully as she pointed in the direction of the newly unveiled passageway.

With a single breath to calm his nerves and focus his mind he strode towards the archway with the younglings falling in behind him. He didn't quite know how hard it'd be to find the crystal meant for him but he wagered that tapping into the Force would help sort through the possible needles in a haystack. After all, if the Force was capable of interacting with the crystals more than, say, the ice that the structure was obviously carved out of, then the hard part would just be finding the one crystal that resonated with him more than any of the others.

Piece of cake.

 _ **An Hour Later**_

 _ **Xander's POV**_

"You'd think that the Jedi that seeded this place with crystals would've made it a little bit easier for younglings to find what they're looking for," he said as he and another Padawan walked slowly down the tunnel the Force had sent them down. "I mean, I know this is supposed to be a test and everything but Jedi or not, kids are still kids."

"It is because we are potential Jedi that we can overcome these difficulties," Araan said, sounding determined not to let the vastness of the tunnels intimidate her. "They wouldn't have set us a goal we couldn't reach."

He had to concede that the Jedi way of thinking wouldn't let Master Galia or Knight Tachi set a task for them that they couldn't handle if they applied themselves. Then again, since every Jedi initiate was different, it'd be impossible to tailor every 'Gathering' so that they'd all pass, so it was only logical that some would fail. Still, he decided he'd keep things positive since focusing on the negative would only increase the odds of him being the one to fail.

"Well, this wandering around isn't going to get us anywhere," he said as he knelt down on the ground and assumed a posture conducive to communing with the Force. "Time to take a different approach."

"What are you doing?" Araan asked, not letting her own thoughts seep through into her words.

"Wandering around, looking for something smaller than my fingernail, will take forever," he replied as reached out with the Force to look for something that stood out. "We need to cut through the interference to get what we really need. With all the hubbub around the crystals having a connection to the Force, it makes sense that we could use the Force to find what we're looking for."

From that point on he shut out all outside input and focused only on drawing on the Force to let him 'see' what his biological senses could not. It wasn't easy 'seeing' with the Force and he often found it was like trying to perceive the world around him in the middle of the night with only the moonlight for illumination. You could pick up some things but others were shrouded in darkness that could not be pierced no matter how hard he tried. Letting his sphere of perception expand outwards, he immediately managed to pick up on Araan but ignored her in favor of proceeding further outward. He never let impatience enter into his mind but rather let time pass as it would while he evaluated every potential… blip… that he detected. He didn't want to be stuck in these caves for nineteen days but, if he grew impatient, it could cloud his perception and make him pass right by what he was looking for.

"… _I don't know your name—but I take up your cause. I will not remove your mask until there is justice—until the Mandalorians have been defeated once and for all. So swears…"_

He almost lost his focus when he heard the voice but he forced himself to suppress his shock and home in on the source of the voice. It wasn't one he recognized but it held his attention, as though it was someone he knew quite well. Treating the voice as a series of ripples in a pond, he attempted to use the Force to find the epicenter of those ripples since it would be there that he would find the source. It was hard, like trying to understand Willow when she was teaching him advanced mathematics hard, but after an unknown period of time he had a heading he was confident in.

Opening his eyes, he quickly got to his feet and began to head down the tunnel that'd take him where he wanted to go.

"Where are you going?" Araan asked as his sudden movement awoke her from her own Force trance.

"I think I've just been given a clue about where my crystal is," he replied even as he kept his mind open to hearing the voice and the ripples it produced. "Keep trying to use the Force to find your own. If you haven't found it by the time I've found mine I'll come back to help."

"Do not bother," Araan said with confidence only youth could bring. "I'll be coming to help you since I'll be finding my crystal long before you find yours."

He had to chuckle a bit at that because it reminded him a bit of Faith, who always did her best to make it sound like she had it all under control and that victory was never in doubt. It was certainly in keeping with what he'd heard about the Zabrak people but he hoped that learning the Jedi way would make her more agreeable to accepting the help of others. No matter who it was, there wasn't a person alive capable of defeating all opposition on their own. Inevitably there would come a threat that only through teamwork with and trusting others that victory could be achieved.

Delving deeper into the maze of tunnels that made up the Ilum temple, he stretched out to keep track of the lingering distortions of the voice that had captivated his attention. They were getting weaker and weaker but he was always good at seeing things that others missed, so he was able to stay on the trail for quite a while before being left without a clue as to where to go. Closing his eyes so that he could more deeply tap into the Force in the hopes that whatever the source of the voice was it'd be kind enough to spit out a few more lines.

" _What greater weapon is there than to turn an enemy to your cause? To use their own knowledge against them?_ "

A woman's voice? The voice that'd caught his attention earlier had definitely been a man's voice yet his instincts told him that the two were connected.

Thus he sought out the source of the new ripples and found his instincts were right on the money since the estimated source of these new ripples seemed to be the same as that of the first voice. Running as quickly as he could without slipping on the icy floor he continued to navigate the tunnel system in an effort to get to the source before this second set of ripples petered out, leaving him dependent on one more fragment of dialogue. He could tell he was getting closer with every turn he took but it was just as the latest set of ripples became too weak for him to perceive with the Force that he sensed something else. It added fuel to his confidence that he was on the right track to finding his lightsaber crystal because the sense of… of… oneness he felt could not be denied even if it couldn't be scientifically quantified.

What could be the reason for this feeling? Was this normally how a Jedi could tell if a crystal was meant to be his?

" _I'm not doing this for the Republic. I'm not doing it for you. I'm not even doing it for me. I'm doing it for our child. And our child's children. We might never live to see the horrors that are coming, but they will. We have to protect the Republic for them. We have to risk our chance at happiness so they can have a life we might never know._ "

"There!" he exclaimed as his connection to the Force provided him with the exact location of the epicenter of the ripples rather than just the direction they were coming for.

Getting to it proved to be somewhat more difficult that he'd thought it'd be because, while he knew where his crystal was, finding the right tunnel to go down to get to it was proving to be a bit hard. Keeping a solid lock on the crystal's location he explored every tunnel he came across without straying too far away since it was unlikely that a way in would be located there. In the end he was forced to conclude that either his crystals were buried in solid ice or that the entrance had been frozen over somehow. In any case, it meant that he would have to get to his prize the hard way.

It was a good thing that lightsaber crystals were VERY durable since he'd hate to accidentally destroy the very thing he'd spent so much time looking for.

Moving until he was as close to the crystal as he was likely to get, he reached out with his hands towards the ice and began to seek out a weakness in its composition. While he could try to break through with brute force, it would be easier to fine a crack, a weakness, in the ice and applying increasing levels of pressure. If he did this the cracks would grow, then multiply and eventually the ice would come crumbling down on its own, leaving the way clear for him to get to the crystal.

"No…no…" he said as his senses perused the surface of the wall of ice for the opening he needed. "…No…YES!"

A crack!

It was small at the moment, almost too small for the sense of touch in his finger to pick up on, but big things could be born of tiny things if the right encouragement was provided. Focusing the Force into his right hand, he began to push against the perimeter of the crack, like someone trying to wrench a door open further. As the crack expanded and smaller ones spider-webbed off, he expanded the area he applied the Force in order to further compromise the integrity of the wall. More and more power was brought to bear until, with one final violent push, the shards that the wall shattered. A blast of mist and air burst out, implying that there had been a considerable amount of air sealed behind the ice. When things finally settled he looked back at the wall to find a room just a little bigger than a walk in closet and, at the far end, he saw something that only heightened the bizarreness of everything he'd experienced since the Gathering had begun.

Inside the room was a crude alter a little over three feet tall with old chipped vases on either end and in the center a rusted metal dinner plate. He had no idea what might have been inside the vases but the plate still had its contents and it was there that he found what had drawn him here… plus one. From the moment he'd first heard the voice he'd been operating under the assumption that he was homing in on one crystal but on the plate there were two. It certainly put a new light on the male and female voices that'd helped to lead him to this location. One crystal was purple while the other one was golden yellow in color, neither of which were common colors for lightsaber blades. To his knowledge the only Jedi with a purple lightsaber was Master Windu and no one in the Order had a golden lightsaber, so to find these crystals there was completely unprecedented. Indeed, the most common colors for lightsaber blades among the Order at the moment were green and blue, thus making him think that crystals of that sort were the in the vast majority on Ilum.

Still, if the rumored properties of Master Windu's lightsaber crystal were to be believed, then he'd hit a bit of good luck on this exercise.

 _I wonder which one I'll choose to put in my main lightsaber,_ he thought as he reached out for the crystals. _After all, if the Force led me to two then it only makes sense that I am meant to build two weapons instead of one._

As he plucked the crystals up off the plate, though, he felt a power surge from within them and through contact with his skin overpowered his own strength in the Force. Naturally he attempted to fight back at first but this proved pointless since he possessed neither the skill nor the experience to counter what assailed him.

Thus it was left to the Force to decide whether he'd survive or perish.

 _ **The Entrance to The Illum Temple**_

 _ **Jedi Master Adi Galia**_

 _What was that?_ she thought as she rose to her feet from the meditative position she'd taken waiting for the younglings and Padawan Xander to return with their crystals.

Two had already made it out, Kara and Pennius, leaving only three plus Xander to emerge with the heart of their future lightsabers. However mere seconds ago she'd sensed a disturbance in the Force that came from deep within the tunnels where the younglings had gone. It had been as powerful as it had been brief, piercing through the peaceful meditative state she had been under and forcing her to pay attention to it. Reaching out with the Force, she tried to determine both the source and the nature of what had disrupted her meditation, but all she sensed was Padawan Xander. He was… unsettled… fatigued… as though he had just been through an unanticipated battle and had barely survived. She tried to sense what had attacked him but sensed no one and nothing close enough to be considered a threat to Xander, but that meant little. Droids and a select few other threats in the galaxy could not be sensed with the Force, so it was possible that one of them had assailed Master Kuro's Padawan.

"What does this mean, Master Galia?" Knight Tachi, her former Padawan, asked, indicating that she had sensed the disturbance as well.

"I do not know but I plan on finding out," she replied as she strode towards the entrance to the tunnels. "Remain here with the younglings and tend to any who emerge. I will find Padawan Xander and find out what he knows of the disturbance."

With that she entered the tunnels and, using the Padawan's presence in the Force to guide her, navigated the tunnels until she found him. When she laid eyes upon him he looked as fatigued as he felt in the Force but she could see no sign of battle damage to his clothing or any wounds on his face. Of his emotions she could only say that he was recovering from his earlier unsettled state but was still distracted by whatever he'd been through.

"Padawan? What has happened?" she asked, causing his gaze to jerk in her direction, locking his eyes with her own, before looking away a bit.

"I… I don't know. Not really," Xander replied, looking as though he was trying to put his memories into words. "I heard voices earlier, through the Force, I think, and I thought that they were a clue to where to find my lightsaber crystal. I followed them and found this sealed off room. It looked like someone had set up some kind of alter there and there was this plate with TWO lightsaber crystals on them."

Bringing up his right hand and opening it, she saw a purple crystal she recognized as Hurrikaine crystal while the second crystal was a golden Kasha crystal. Both were exceedingly rare and, to her knowledge, had never before been found on Ilum for as long as the temple had existed on the planet. Hundreds upon thousands of Jedi initiates had been brought and only ever had they found either green or blue crystals to use in their lightsabers. There were other locations across the galaxy where suitable crystals could be found and some had been used in the past by the Order before being abandoned.

"I… I picked them up and then something happened," Xander explained, though it looked as though he was experiencing increasing difficulty remembering. "Power, the Force, came from within the crystals and it overpowered me. I blinked and suddenly I was somewhere else. I'm not sure if it was a space station or a building on Coruscant because there weren't any windows. There were two people there, a man and a woman, but I couldn't see their faces because they had their hoods over their heads and there wasn't enough light to see their faces."

"Then what did they wear? Was there anything unique about either of them?" she asked, attempting to learn more about what the Padawan had experienced.

"The woman wore a hooded cape over a vest with a utility belt around her waist and brown pants. Metal forearm protectors were on each arm and her boots looked like they were half civilian and half military in design," Xander replied as he searched his memories. "The man had a hooded cape as well but wore robes that looked like they'd only get in the way on the battlefield because of how long they were. They covered everything short of his feet and he had dark red armor covering his chest, with forearm guards the same color on each arm. They were more ornate than the robes I've seen around the Temple. In fact they kind of reminded me of some of the pictures of the Old Republic robes I've seen in the archives."

"This could imply that they were the former owners of the crystals," she said, voicing her thoughts even as she followed the path of logic in her mind. "What happened next?"

"I… I think we fought," Xander replied, not sounding entirely certain. "I remember feeling resolved… struggling… of being pushed back… and then I was back in front of the alter."

"You can remember nothing else?" she asked in order to ensure that there was nothing more to be learned from the Padawan.

"No… nothing else," he replied, sounding as though he was trying only to be met with failure.

While she would have preferred to have more to go on, it would have to wait until they were back aboard the ship to speak with Professor Huyang. The droid had been around since the early days of the Order and had memory files of every initiate to undergo the Gathering. While his expertise weighed more towards the materials and mechanical composition of the lightsaber, his sensors would still have taken scans of the crystals brought back by the initiates. If he scanned the crystals Xander found, he should be able to find a match in his files and tell her who had originally found them and used them in the construction of their lightsabers. Once she had that information, she would be better prepared to theorize why they had affected the Padawan the way they had and if there was an ongoing reason for concern.

The fact that Xander couldn't remember some things was… troubling.

"Then let us get back to the entrance to the temple to wait for the remaining younglings to return with their crystals," she said, dropping the topic for the time being.

"Right behind you," he said, sounding like he was beginning to suppress his memories of what he'd experienced in order to 'get back to normal'.

He would have to deal with what happened eventually if he was ever to move on with his life and achieve true balance with the Force. Once they were back at the Temple on Coruscant she would advise that he be kept off missions and that he receive some counseling in order to properly cope with the trauma he experienced. While it was possible she was being excessive with her recommendations, wars were traumatizing enough on their own without unresolved trauma bubbling within a young Padawan.

The last thing anyone needed was for young Xander to suffer a breakdown in the middle of a battle.

 _ **The Jedi Transport**_

 _ **En Route to Coruscant**_

 _ **Xander's POV**_

What the hell happened down there?

It was a question that he hadn't been able to answer from the moment the mysterious event had occurred to just now as the ship began its ascent into the sky with the Gathering group in the workshop of one Professor Huyang. It bothered him because, if there was one thing that was true both in this reality and his old one, it was that the unknown could kill you. Still, he had more important things to worry about at the moment then something he had trouble recalling and that was constructing his lightsaber. Whatever he'd been through it hadn't been enough to impair him physically or overly mentally so he could still contribute to the war against the Separatists. However he would need a Jedi weapon on missions where 'Slade Ordo' was not appropriate and that meant constructing his lightsaber had to take priority.

"Now, what form do you envision your lightsaber to take, young Xander?" Professor Huyang asked, having moved on from the Araan, who already had all the parts she needed for her lightsaber. "What does the Force tell you?"

Closing his eyes, he let himself sink into the embrace of the Force, asking it to provide him with the answers he needed for his task. He couldn't help but feel wary after his most recent experience delving so deep into it but he did his best not to let that get in the way. He increased his focus to compensate for the wariness swimming through the mist of feelings, images and sensations. It was as he did this that concepts and images began to flow as if being provided by some invisible instructor that already knew how his efforts would turn out.

"I see… a long handle… twice as long as any lightsaber grip I've ever seen…" he said, voicing what the Force was telling him so that Professor Huyang could hear him. "NO! Not twice as long. Two hilts connected to form one."

"Hmmmm… an odd one to be sure but I think I have what you require," Professor Huyang said, followed by the sound of droid feet walking away from him. "What else do you see?"

"The blades… one shrinking… while the other extends… extends to twice the length it should!" he said, opening his eyes as the Force fell silent. "That's all I've got."

"It is enough. The fact that you saw the blade length double implies that when they're connected, it is possible to share power and reinforce their cycling field energizers," Professor Huyang said as he rooted through the various drawers containing lightsaber components. "This will make blades twice as strong while the hilts are joined. Quite formidable."

"A double-bladed lightsaber also has its flaws," Master Galia said, inserting herself into the conversation. "Special training is required in order to use it properly being one of them. For another the number of techniques you can use are limited since the length makes it difficult to attack or defend without bringing the blades dangerously close to the wielder's body. Lastly the large hilt of the dual bladed lightsaber presents a tempting target for both blade and blaster. The fact that yours will be capable of separating will do much to neutralize this weakness since, even if one of the halves is destroyed, the other will likely still be functional."

"So it'll be tough to master," he said, only mildly concerned. "Just means until I get enough training in I stick to one blade at a time or dual wielding."

"You have learned Jar'Kai?" Master Galia asked with mild interest.

"I know the basics," he replied, remembering his lightsaber training sessions with Master Windu and Master Kuro. "Plus Knight Keto and Master Kuro have agreed to train me in between missions so I'll get better."

"With teachers like that I have no doubt," Master Galia said, showing her confidence with her words.

It took a few minutes for Professor Huyang to find all the components for his lightsabers but that was nothing compared to the task set before him now. Rather than giving him tools so he could put it all together by hand, he was now expected to assemble his lightsaber using Force telekinesis alone. Apparently all he'd need to do was take in the holographic diagrams being emitted by the holo-generators in both the floor as well as the ceiling and then delve into the Force to help him guide things into their proper place. It sounded simple enough but, when he tried to do it himself, he found that dividing his attention half towards keeping the image of the diagrams in his head and half towards listening to the Force was difficult. It was like that whole 'pat your head while rubbing your stomach' thing but he figured that like most of the things he'd been taught in the Temple, trusting in the Force and keeping calm would be the key to success.

Not an easy thing to do since part of him was still wary about hearing 'voices' again.

The passage of time was difficult to perceive when you delved into the Force deep enough to let it guide you so he was never quite sure how long he'd been in it until he came up for air and looked at the nearest clock. Thus, when he finally managed to complete the assembly of his lightsaber according to both diagram and the Force, he opened his eyes to find the room empty except for himself. Apparently he'd been under longer than he thought if everyone else had either gone to bed or to supper without him but, looking down at the weapon he'd crafted, he considered it time well spent. Picking it up with his bare hands, he found it to be a little heavier than the last one he'd wielded but that wasn't too surprising considering the difference in size and composition. Getting up off the chair he'd been sitting on, he prepared to ignite his weapon for the first time except for two things that demanded his immediate attention.

The first was his growling stomach informing him that he apparently hadn't eaten in a while.

The second was a distinct amount of pressure and discomfort below the waist, implying that nature was calling with artillery strikes.

 _O-kay!_ he thought before making his way to the ship's refresher room. _Essentials first, THEN play with the shiny new lightsaber._

It didn't take him long to take care of business, especially since the layout of most refresher rooms mirrored the bathrooms back home, and once done he went in search of the others. Fortunately when he arrived at the ship's galley he found most of them in the room enjoying a meal, though whether it was breakfast, lunch or dinner he couldn't say. Different species had different dietary needs and, while some food was easier to come by in some places but not in others, all of it was different enough that identifying when it was appropriate to eat them.

"Um… good… evening?" he tentatively said once most of them noticed his arrival.

"Morning, actually," Youngling Pennius said after swallowing a bite of her meal. "Finished making your lightsaber?"

To respond to the youngling he took his lightsaber off of the hook on his belt and activated both blades, causing two blades of energy, one gold and the other purple, to surge from the hilt. Each blade was as long as your standard lightsaber blade, making it a little over eleven feet long from tip to tip. Seeing it, he could definitely understand how it'd be difficult to wield such a thing effectively in a fight without cutting yourself to pieces. With only forty-eight centimeters of it being safe to touch, you had to have a completely accurate picture in your mind of not only where the deadly blades were in reference to the rest of your body but also keep tabs on where your hands were.

It'd be painful and embarrassing if you sliced off your own fingers because you accidentally gripped the blade rather than the hilt.

"Well, you certainly will be easy to find on the battlefield with colors like those," Knight Tachi said as the younglings present looked in awe of weapon.

"Attention of that nature is not always a good thing, my former Padawan," Master Galia said as she came into the room from another entrance. "It makes you easier for the enemy to target you."

"If shooting at me means they're not shooting at our allies or innocent people, I'm okay with that," he said, perfectly willing to suffer some serious hail from enemy weapons if it meant good people were kept from harm.

"While it is commendable that you are willing to put yourself in harm's way to protect others, do not dismiss the value of your own life so quickly," she said with sage wisdom. "You are just as important as anyone else and matter to others just as much as they matter to you. Be sure that when you take a risk to aid another you remain aware of those lives your death will affect should you perish."

"Don't worry, Master Galia," he said with a serious tone. "I'm not suicidal and I'll try not to be reckless, but you can always count on me to do what I think is right."

"That is all I ask," Master Galia said with an approving nod.

Shutting down his lightsaber he put it back onto the hook on his belt before heading for the food dispenser for something halfway interesting to eat.

Interesting but edible and unlikely to send him back to the refresher within an hour or two.

He'd pretty much gotten a handle on what was safe for him to eat and what had… interesting consequences, but with so many worlds creating so many unique meals, it paid to keep his guard up.


	4. Relief Delivered and Retaliation Deliver

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted materials contained herein. They are the rightful property of their respective creators and/or associated companies. I make no profit from this whatsoever and I have no intention of changing this in the future. I write because it's fun and because there are those who enjoy reading my work. Therefore it would be appreciated if no one sued me or tried to get me arrested. It seriously wouldn't be worth the time, effort and money in the end.

 _ **A Few Days Later**_

 _ **Rreya's POV**_

"So how was your vacation?" she asked as she saw Xander Windu walk up the boarding ramp of the Stellar Envoy. "Work on your tan?"

"If by tan you mean I nearly froze my butt off then yeah, I worked on my tan," Xander replied as he reached her at the top of the ramp. "But it was SO worth it. Look!"

Directing her gaze to where the Padawan was pointing, her eyes fell upon what she'd noticed the moment she'd spotted him entering the ship's landing platform. It was, after all, quite long and had quickly caused her sense of humor to wonder if her friend wasn't compensating for something else. Seeing it up close, though, she had to admit that it looked like it'd been professionally put together and had a sort of aesthetic appeal that the majority of Jedi lightsabers didn't have. Most lightsabers prioritized function over appearance, with their wielders believing that making their weapons look pretty was a sign of attachment to be removed. Still, she'd reserve final judgment until she saw it actually work instead of sparking in Xander's hands before exploding.

"Nice toy," she said, trying her best to sound unimpressed. "Does it even work?"

With a smirk she remembered all too well from their sparring sessions back in the Temple before the war she watched as he unhooked his lightsaber and, with the press of the activation studs, she saw something that surprised her. The blades were different colors!

"What? You couldn't decide on one so you went for both?" she asked as she looked back and forth between the gold and purple blades.

"Actually they were both in the same place and the Force seemed to want me to have them both, so I thought to myself 'why not?'" he replied with a shrug before shutting down his weapon. "Besides, it's close enough to what Erica made for me before the Battle of Geonosis that I have some experience with both a dual-blade and dual wielding."

"So it's not likely you'll cut your own arms off but its up to the Force if can actually hit anything?" she said with a smirk of amusement. "In other words: same old, same old."

"Ha ha! You've got such a WONDERFUL sense of humor," he said as he began to head towards their improvised quarters. "So, we got a new assignment or what?"

"Yep. Master Kuro's just waiting on the two of us," she replied as she fell into stride behind him.

They walked in on the others and the welcomes Xander Windu received were varied, from Erica predictably coming over to give him a hug to Master Kuro doing a simple acknowledgment nod. Some went for something halfway, like the Catharian simply giving a warm smile plus a nod but in the end it didn't really matter.

"Now that we're all here I'll brief you on our next assignment," Master Kuro said before activating the holo-generator that Jadak had installed in the floor of the cargo hold. "As some of you may know, by keeping up to date on the war, the Separatists have launched an invasion of the planet Ryloth. The Republic garrison under General Ima-Gun Di and Captain Keeli are putting up a brave fight but they're starting to see the bottom of their food, medicine and ammunition supplies."

"I take it getting them resupplied isn't an option?" Knight Keto asked as they all looked at the holographic image of the planet Ryloth.

"Unfortunately no," Master Kuro replied before tapping a button on her comm-strip. "As soon as the Separatists cleared out the Republic ships in orbit they established a blockade around the planet. Admiral Dao and the ships assigned to him will be trying to break the blockade in a few days but, given the situation, it was decided that a backup plan was needed."

"Let me guess: we're the back up plan?" Xander asked, making the intuitive leap.

"Correct," Master Kuro said before a ship symbol appeared next to the planet hologram. "We're to stock up on as much medicine, food and ammunition as the Stellar Envoy can carry and head for Ryloth. We're to wait on the edge of the system for Admiral Dao's fleet to begin their assault on the blockade and, if it looks like they won't be able to get through, we're to make for the planet."

"So Admiral Dao and his people will become decoys to keep the Separatists distracted while we make it through the planet's atmosphere to General Di's location," Sarahari said, showing her perceptiveness. "The Stellar Envoy is small enough that, so long as we don't shoot any fireworks, we'll slip right past them. How large a window do you think we'll get?"

"It will depend on how quickly we are able to assess the likelihood that Admiral Dao will succeed in breaking the blockade," Master Kuro replied, looking at the Catharian. "The Separatists have forces on the ground, especially around where the Republic forces and their allies are located. Once they see our ship they'll try to shoot us down. Even if we manage to drop off the supplies, getting back off Ryloth before the Separatist forces redeploy to stop us will not be easy."

"You can leave that to me," Jadak said, sounding quite confident. "The day I can't outfly a droid is the day I junk my own ship."

"If you don't mind me asking, Master Kuro, why are we being given this assignment?" she asked, thinking the job out of the group's job description. "We're spies, not supply runners."

"We are whatever the Republic and the Order need us to be," Master Kuro replied with reprimand in her tone. "General Di and his men need these supplies if they're to last long enough for a second attempt to break the blockade, should Admiral Dao's efforts fail."

"Can we really bring them enough to last that long?" Erica asked, looking at the former cargo hold as if estimating its maximum storage capacity.

"We will bring them all we can," Master Kuro replied, not giving a precise answer. "If rationed properly it should last them long enough for something more substantial to be delivered."

"Then I guess we better get going," Xander said, sounding like he was ready. "It's a long trip to Ryloth and we still need to get the supplies on board."

With agreements all around they dispersed to either clear as much room in the ship's interior as possible for the supplies or to get the ship underway to where the supplies would be waiting for pick up. As for her she'd help the latter, since it'd give her more time to consider what this meant for her personally since this would be the first time she set foot on Ryloth since she'd been found there as a child by the Jedi Order. All Force sensitive children were brought to the Temple at an early age supposedly to prevent them from learning ways of thinking that would impede their instruction in the Jedi way. It was also meant to ensure that they didn't accidentally hurt themselves or others through their clumsy, instinctual control of the Force.

Personally she thought they did so to avoid the possibility of those Force sensitives turning to the Dark Side because of the intoxicating sensations it inspired in the unprepared.

Not that she'd heard of any self-taught Dark Side user amounting to much more than a warlord or crime boss, though, but the possibility existed.

For her Ryloth was a home world she barely remembered and did not have the label of 'home' in her heart. That label belonged to the Jedi Temple, for it was there that her friends lived, where she learned to tap into the power she possessed and where she had found a calling. Still, she could not outright dismiss the curiosity she felt concerning the planet of her birth and what secrets it might have in its grasp waiting for her to claim them. Were her birth parents still there? Did she have siblings? What were the circumstances of her discovery and induction into the Jedi Order? These questions pulled at her mind, making her feel uncertain and she did not like feeling uncertain. To be uncertain was to be weak and the weak could not control the course of their own fate but rather had it shaped by the galaxy with little care about the weak's preferences. As a Jedi she had both the knowledge and the power to have sufficient control over her surroundings to shape her future to her liking.

For the most part.

Like any other Jedi there were laws that she had to obey, not to mention rules and people with more power and influence than she had. She knew that it'd be impossible for her to become powerful enough on her own to be able to act without anyone or anything being able to oppose her. Thus she would have to be satisfied with getting as far as she could before the Force and the rest of the Galaxy presented an obstacle she couldn't get past.

With some help from friends perhaps she could make it even further and she already knew of a few in her current group that met her high standards.

 _ **The Stellar Envoy**_

 _ **Thirty-Six Hours Later**_

 _ **Xander's POV**_

"Coming out of hyperspace in three…two…one…NOW," Jadak as he pushed the lever forward, turning the blue tunnel that they'd been travelling down to streaking stars, then normal stars.

Looking at the forward windshield of the cockpit, it'd be easy to think that there'd been an error with the calculations of the ship's navi-computer. However, if one squinted a bit, they'd see a tiny sphere of brown in the distance and know that they had arrived in the Ryloth system. For the time being, though, this would be as close as the Stellar Envoy would get since it was still another thirty minutes before Admiral Dao's fleet arrived.

"Is there any sign that our entry into the system has been detected?" Master Kuro asked from her position behind the pilot's chair.

"Not that I can tell but sensor resolution's not great at this range," Jadak replied as he tried to get more information from the ship's sensors. "No sign of Vulture Droid squadrons heading our way and the destroyers are staying in their orbits."

"Good. Just to be sure, though, power down all non-essential systems to minimize our power signature," Master Kuro ordered as she backed away from the back of the chair. "Keep only life support and sensors online."

"Starting everything up again once the fleet arrives will take about twenty seconds," Jadak warned, sounding only mildly concerned about shutting down that many systems.

"We can spare the time," Master Kuro said with a small smile. "I imagine it will take at least twenty minutes before we will be able to accurately predict the outcome of the battle."

"Assuming it's a close enough match to make a decent battle," he said, considering another possibility. "If the person in charge of the blockade is a better tactician than Admiral Dao, we'll know pretty early on. Same if the reverse is true."

"The only way the battle could end in less than twenty seconds would be if one side just hit the self-destruct buttons on their ships," Rreya said from the rear of the cockpit. "Won't happen on Admiral Dao's side of things but, given what I've heard about Clanker intelligence levels, they might."

"While the rank and file droids might be… intellectually slow, their commanding officers are competent enough for Count Dooku to trust them with their commands." Master Kuro said in an effort to deter carelessness around Separatist droids.

He admitted that it made sense that only a droid with the necessary programming or a person with the necessary training would be made the commander of a blockade or a frigate. However good enough to command and good enough to outfight a Republic Admiral as well as associated subordinates was another thing entirely. From what he'd heard since returning to Courscant, only those commanders handpicked by Count Dooku himself were all that impressive, with the rest being entirely too confident in the size of the forces they controlled.

They all turned into spineless cowards once it became clear that capture or death was in their immediate future.

"Well, we have thirty minutes to kill before the fireworks start, so let's get the prep work done," he said quite interested in finding something to occupy his time for the next half hour. "Gear and weapons as well as ship systems. Especially the armaments and propulsion systems."

"Wouldn't shields be better?" Sarahari asked from one of the available seats in the cockpit. "One way or another we're going to be taking enemy fire."

"Exactly. No offense, Captain Jadak, but the Stellar Envoy's shields aren't designed to soak up a lot of enemy fire. Better to have engines to avoid it with and weapons to shoot the enemy out of the sky before they shoot us out of the sky."

"None taken, Xan," Captain Jadak said with only a little annoyance. "Just don't be too quick to judge the Envoy. To do jobs for the Republic Group, we'd done a lot of special 'upgrades' to make sure we could pull'em off. I wouldn't pit her nose to nose with a Separatist frigate, much less a whole blockade, but anyone looking to scrap this ship is going to have to WORK for it."

"If there's one thing I've learned in my life, captain, it's NEVER to judge by appearances," he said with a reassuring grin.

With that he left the cockpit and began to squeeze himself down the corridor, lined on either side with relief supply containers, towards the engine room. Reeze would be there and, since the man would know more about the Envoy's engines than he did, he'd have to do his best to assist however he could. Maybe he could pick up a quick tip or three about ship engines while he was at it, just in case it became necessary on a future mission. He'd learned a lot since arriving at the temple but unfortunately, when it came to being a mechanic or a ship engineer, he'd barely looked at the proverbial cover, never mind actually opened the book. In any case, the future was uncertain and he couldn't always count on Reeze, Jadak or Erica to do the necessary repairs. With the future so uncertain, it'd be wiser to make sure everyone on board had at least the basics of ship engineering burned into their brains so that, if need required it, they'd be able to do what the others could not.

 _I think we went a little overboard cramming this place full of supplies,_ he thought as he had to think thin to get past some of the tighter points in the corridor. _I hope the Jedi general and the Twi'lek's can hold out with it until a ship built for transporting relief supplies can get to Ryloth._

While Erica's estimates on how long the Republic soldiers and Twi'lek freedom fighters could last with what they were bringing them was encouraging, it'd only be that way if certain variables remained constant.

In war the only things that remained constant were the rising body count and the bill for keeping it going.

"How're the engines?" he asked, entering the engine room.

"Running as smooth as ever," Reeze replied, looking away from the console he was standing in front of. "Why do you ask?"

"Just wanted to make sure there weren't any problems," he replied even as he looked at the room. "Have any ideas for getting a little more speed and maneuverability out of the Envoy? Something we can do right now?"

"Not much that we haven't done already," Reeze replied with a look of contemplation. "We can tweak the settings a bit, maybe add a few more odds and ends that I have in storage, but to get anything substantial done we'd need to land the ship and have a few days to work with."

"Every little bit helps," he said before making a decision. "Let's focus on fine tuning the settings. I doubt we can install any new hardware right with only half an hour to work with."

"Definitely not," Reeze said, nodding in agreement. "You have any engineering experience?"

"Not really. Picked up a few tricks here and there from friends but I wouldn't call that an education."

"Then I hope you're ready because Professor Duurmun's class of ship engineering is now in session," Reeze said with a humorous look on his face.

Time seemed to pass too quickly as he listened to everything Reeze told him and followed the directions given promptly as well as precisely. The man not only told him what to do but why it needed to be done as well as how it'd help them increase both the speed as well as the maneuverability of the Stellar Envoy. He was just starting to get into it when they got the notification that Admiral Dao's fleet had arrived and had engaged the Separatist blockade.

 _Time to see firsthand just how even this war is,_ he thought, putting away the tools he'd been using to tweak the settings of the engines.

Depending on how things looked, he might need to suggest a different approach to their missions than currently existed, an approach that involved much BOOM and the destruction of enemy resources since, without them, defeat was inevitable.

 _ **A Short While Later**_

 _ **Sarahari's POV**_

"They're outmatched," she said as she watched from her position wielding one of the Envoy's quad cannons.

"Yes. Admiral Dao is putting up a valiant struggle but it is obvious that they will not break the blockade," Master Kuro said through her com-piece. "Indeed it is likely that they will not even be able to retreat should they choose to do so."

She couldn't help but growl in anger at this as the enemies of the Republic marched towards victory and there was nothing they could do to prevent this. As a former member of the Naboo Security Forces, one of the first things she'd chosen to do upon the Stellar Envoy being made their official ship had been to familiarize herself with its defensive and offensive systems. What she'd found had moderately impressed her since both the weapons and the shields were not part of the original blueprints for the standard YT-1300 light freighter. Enhanced shields, additional blasters, armor plating and high-grade sensor suites were just a few of the modifications Jadak and Reeze had made. However, when held up against the weapons at the disposal of the Separatist blockade vessels, she knew they would be lucky to get close enough to get off even a single salvo of blasts before being destroyed.

They had their own mission to accomplish as well and they couldn't do that if they were dead.

"Admiral Dao will not last long," Master Kuro said, addressing everyone connected to the comm-system. "Bring all systems online and take us in. Erica? Sarahari? Keep the space clear above and in front of us but don't draw too much attention. We won't last long if every vulture droid and enemy fighter decides to make us priority target."

"Roger that," she said as she began to formulate firing rules that would protect the ship but not be too excessive.

"Begin your approach, captain," Master Kuro ordered and a moment later the Envoy shot forward, with the stars nearly becoming streaks.

Keeping an eye on the targeting display while using the naked eye to watch for moving spots of color that would be enemy fighter craft, she knew that some people would say that the targeting sensors would detect the incoming fighters long before her organic eyes could spot anything but she was determined to make use of every resource she had. However it wasn't until they had gotten close enough for the planet to become the perceived size of a space station that opposition arrived to get in their way. Two squadrons of vulture droids were approaching and she brought her quad cannons to bear towards the oncoming threat, waiting until the targeting scanners confirmed a lock before pulling the trigger. Her experience fighting to protect Naboo meant that she was a pretty decent shot with weapons like this and it showed as the first of two droid ships she fired on exploded in fire and debris. She could hear Erica's cannons firing as well and, unless her acute sense of hearing was deceiving her, the HRD was scoring more kills than she was. While this could be written off as the result of artificial reflexes and senses, it didn't stop her from developing feelings of competitiveness.

Focusing her mind and recalling every trick she'd ever been taught when it came to shooting moving targets, she was determined to at least match, if not surpass, her cannon rival.

While there were a few jolting impacts on the ship's shields, they were few thanks to the excellent piloting of Captain Jadak and the aim of the gunners. Thus they managed to reach the upper atmosphere of Ryloth with barely a scratch and began to descend towards the planet's surface. They were making planet fall as close to General Di's position as they dared while making sure to stay out of the range of the blockade's weapons. Changing the direction her cannons were aimed to the rear of the ship, she waited to see if any more separatist fighters would be sent from the orbiting blockade or if the new threat would come from someplace planetside. Fortunately it looked like, while the Separatists likely knew they were going to win against Admiral Dao, they still chose to prioritize the Republic destroyers over a single light freighter. Once they passed through the planet's troposphere Jadak brought the ship parallel to the surface below before setting course for their primary destination.

"Looks like it'll be smooth sailing for a little while," Rreya said from the cockpit. "Guess they didn't expect the Republic to send a small ship like the Envoy and use Dao's ships as decoys."

"It is not surprising," Master Kuro said as though it were perfectly understandable. "This ship does not have any markings connecting it to the Republic, nor is it heavily armed. Their blockade protocols required that they send at least two squadrons in an effort to intercept us. Now that we've proven ourselves formidable, it is likely the next force thrown our way will be larger in size or greater in firepower."

"Let's hope they don't hit us with it until we're closer to General Di's position," Padawan Xander said from the cockpit of the Stellar Envoy. "If we can get to them before suffering serious damage, we stand a better chance of getting back out of the system."

"And if we're not that lucky?" Rreya asked, sounding curious about the possibility.

"Don't ask," Xander replied, sounding a little grim.

What the young man no doubt suspected was that they could be shot down if they came under too heavy fire before reaching their destination and, even if they successfully delivered the supplies, they'd be stuck until repairs could be made. Depending on the severity of the damage and the availability of the necessary parts, they could be on Ryloth for quite a long while. Even if they could cannibalize parts from downed droid fighters, they might still be unable to leave the system. Given the desperate state of Jedi Di's forces, if they were rendered unable to leave it would be up to the Force as to whether they'd live long enough to acquire a means off world. They might even be stuck until Republic forces officially began the campaign to retake Ryloth but who knew when that would be considering the unpredictability of the times.

Seeing the landscape fly by, there were visible signs of war on the planet, with some villages still smoking from the assault they suffered at the hands of Separatist forces. Looking at them, she wondered how many had managed to survive such attacks and how many bodies still lay where they fell after being pierced by blaster bolts. From what she'd read during the trip to the Ryloth system, the attack by the Separatists happened without warning and had not been anticipated to happen by Republic intelligence for some time. As a result the number of clone troopers stationed on Ryloth were only enough to protect against spies and scouts, not an invasion by the Confederacy of Independent Systems. She had little doubt that Jedi Di and Captain Keeli had done everything with the forces they had at their disposal to protect civilians but, with an entire planet of people at risk, they could only do so much.

 _The Separatists will PAY for every drop of innocent blood they've spilt!_ she thought angrily as another growl escaped her lips. _I'll see to it personally if I must._

"I don't like it any more than you do, Sarahari," Padawan Xander said, sounding unhappy as well. "If all they wanted was to conquer and occupy the planet they should've restricted their activities to military targets and maybe planetary leaders. Involving civilians, killing them just to create terror, proves that they have to be stopped and SOON."

"And they will be, Padawan," Master Kuro said with measured tones. "But we must make sure that, in our haste to protect innocent lives, we do not put them in harms way with impatient actions."

"I'm not going to go off like some sort of loose cannon, Master Kuro," Xander said in his own defense. "I'm just not going to turn down a chance to end this war if it walks out in front of me."

"Just make sure the 'chance' is the real deal and not bait for a trap, Xander Windu," Rreya warned, sounding like she expected that very thing to happen.

"If he is misled into a trap, Padawan Rreya, then we, as his teammates, will just have to be ready to help him out of it," Erica said, her voice making it clear that she would do whatever was required to save her master.

"Indeed," she said, adding her own resolve to the statement.

"Thanks, guys!" Xander said with gratitude in his voice at the support. "Here's hoping I don't wind up causing you all too much trouble."

"Touching as this all is, can we PLEASE keep our focus on the sensors?" Captain Jadak asked, sounding a little annoyed at the lack of discipline.

With that the informal discussion came to an end and they focused on the task at hand, which at the moment was keeping an eye out for Separatist forces looking to make their stay of the fatal and permanent kind. Still, a part of her mind couldn't help but conjure up images of Padawan Xander in trouble, only for her to arrive and free him just in time leading them to fight a glorious battle back to back. It was akin to the tales she'd been told as a young girl and indeed the path her life had taken made her wonder if centuries from now the children of Cathar would be told of her adventures. After all, here she was, a Catharian warrior, allied with promising Jedi who occasionally dressed in the armor of a Mandalorian warrior.

If that wasn't an amazing similarity to the tales of the great Jedi Knight Revan, she didn't know what was.

 _Still, as my father taught me long ago, I will not allow a desired future lead to present mistakes,_ she thought as she banished the fantasy from her mind so she would not be distracted from keeping an eye out for enemy fighters.

If Padawan Xander and her were truly destined, then the Force would make it so.

 _ **Xander's POV**_

"Looks like the Force is still with us," he said as the camp of Republic troops and Twi'lek freedom fighters came into view. "We haven't run into Separatist forces since we hit the atmosphere and, with Jadak's piloting, we should be able to set down in the camp without scratching the paint job."

"Let us hope that our departure is as smooth," Rreya said from her position next to him.

He'd never say it out loud for fear of jinxing them but he was a little worried that their good luck now meant some bad luck was coming their way.

As soon as they came within view, the droid forces on the ground began to direct fire up at them but only the fire from the tanks had any real effect on the Envoy's shields. Fortunately, at the speed the ship was flying and the excellent piloting skills of its captain, they were soon behind the cover provided by the rocky outcroppings that limited the avenues of approach for the droid forces. With a light jolt the landing thrusters of the Envoy fired, slowing their descent allowing them to touch down with relative softness.

"Let's get those supplies unloaded," Master Kuro said, getting up from her seat. "Then we can see if we can be of any further assistance to Master Di before departing."

"This isn't going to be a simple drop off and go?" Rreya asked, sounding a bit surprised as the group navigated the narrow space between the supply crates.

"Master Di and Captain Keeli have been under great pressure since the Separatist forces arrived," Master Kuro said, showing no discomfort despite the tight squeeze. "They will need time to recover and position the supplies where they will do the most good. We will provide that time."

"What can just eight people and a light freighter do against so many droids?" Rreya asked, sounding less than enthusiastic about fighting. "They've no doubt landed enough forces planet side to outnumber us ten to one."

"If our objective was to liberate Ryloth, I would agree that there is little just the few of us can do," Master Kuro said as they reached the boarding ramp. "However we can use guerilla tactics to distract and delay them. It will give Master Di time to distribute the supplies and get the heavy weapons back online."

A feasible enough plan, especially when taking into account the less than stellar intelligence of the battle droids, but only if they were careful enough to stay out of the crosshairs of the heavy artillery. He was under no illusions about their ability to hold up against superior numbers but the environment would hopefully provide enough cover to keep them alive. They'd likely need a local to show them the ways in and out but thankfully they had a selection to choose from approaching the ship.

As the boarding ramp lowered, Master Kuro took the lead with the rest of them following behind, with him clad in his Slade Ordo disguise and the others in the required clothing.

"This is something of a surprise, Master Kuro," Master Di said as he approached with Captain Keelie and presumably the commander of the Twi'lek forces. "When we lost contact with Admiral Dao, I feared the worst."

"I have spoken with the Jedi High Council and they have promised that another effort to break through the blockade with supplies will be made," she said, slightly louder than necessary in order to make sure that more than just their group heard her. "However they realize that the second effort might take time the people of Ryloth don't have so we hired this man, Slade Ordo, and his crew to transport as well as escort as many supplies as their ship could hold. I do not know if it is enough but at the very least I hope it will help."

Captain Jadak pulled a lever and the freight lift, upon which four large crates rested. Judging from the markings they contained medical supplies.

"It is a start," the leader of the Twi'lek forces, Syndulla if he remembered the briefing file right, said before turning to his closest soldiers and saying something to them in Twi'leki.

At once the Twi'leks went for the crates, taking them off the lift and towards what looked to be a supply tent off to the side of the camp. More of Syndulla's people joined the initial group and before Jadak realized it he had natives of Ryloth going in and out of the Stellar Envoy, always exiting with their arms full of containers. He'd join to help but it would conflict with the image of a soldier for hire. Soldiers fought, they did bodyguard work and they conducted covert missions but they did NOT help to unload supply crates. Instead he looked to Erica and his 'crew' before jerking his head in the direction of the boarding ramp, pointing once at the unloading Twi'leks. Erica and Sarahari were quick enough to pick up on what he wanted but, while they did as they were told, Rreya was a little more resistant. Fortunately for him Knight Keto gave the 'disapproving teacher' glare that finally coaxed the crimson Twi'lek into entering the Stellar Envoy to help the others unload the supplies.

"While they are handling the unloading, General Syndulla, perhaps you could provide me with a more detailed description of the present tactical situation," Master Kuro said, turning her mind to other things. "The more information you can provide, the more compelling an argument I can make to the Jedi High Council to move the reclamation of Ryloth higher up the list of priorities."

What followed was a grim tail of how the invasion by the CIS began; which towns and cities were hit first, and how much was lost, both in homes as well as lives. The report expanded into how both the Republic garrison and those Twi'lek willing to take up arms to defend their world launched a counterattack, or rather tried to. It was Syndulla's opinion that the Separatists must've been gathering intel on Ryloth for months since only that could explain how quickly they managed to shatter efforts at mounting a defense. Every location that stood a good chance at being made into a base of operations had been either obliterated or occupied with so many droids that capturing it for their own use was impossible. All locations where they could've found weapons, medicine or food were likewise either destroyed or occupied by a force too large to be defeated without additional help.

In the end only their superior tactics and knowledge of the terrain had allowed them to survive this long.

"It is indeed most troubling," Master Kuro said as she rubbed her chin in thought. "While most academic knowledge of your world is readily available at any Republic library, the fact that they knew where your munitions and medical supplies were located implies very recent intel. Master Di? Were there any signs of Separatist probes or spies in the weeks preceding the invasion?"

"None that were reported, Master Kuro," Master Di replied with a negative shake of his head. "As with all systems that had the potential to be the next target of the Separatist fleet, precautions were taken to detect and stop both but it is possible that some managed to slip through our nets."

"If the Separatists are doing the same to other worlds then security needs to be heightened," Master Kuro said, having come to a decision. "Details, however, would be nice. Do you know where the nearest droid base is located?"

"What are you planning, Master Jedi?" General Syndulla asked, sounding suspicious.

"If we're to stop other worlds from suffering the same fate as Ryloth, we need to know how the Separatists are getting their information. If we can infiltrate the nearest droid base, we can access their battle net and get that information," Master Kuro replied as she turned to look the military man in the eye. "While we're there we could secure information that could be of use to you in fighting back against them, such as droid deployments, weapons depots and other damaging targets."

"The base will be heavily fortified," Syndulla said, sounding doubtful that they'd make it inside, much less get the information they wanted.

"What do you think, Mister Ordo? Can we do it?" Master Kuro asked, looking over her shoulder at him.

 _Great! Put me on the spot, why don't you!_ "Fortresses are meant to keep large forces at bay. If we strike at night, keep the team small and are careful, it's doable. We might even manage to leave enough surprises behind to prompt them to pull back their forces and give your forces some breathing room."

"Ambitious, Mister Ordo," General Syndulla said as the last of the supplies were unloaded from the Stellar Envoy. "I look forward to seeing if you can pull it off. I will see to it that you receive the coordinates of the nearest base within the hour."

Nothing was said while the Twi'leks or troopers were within hearing distance but, once those who were not crew for the Stellar Envoy were far enough away, Master Kuro approached him.

"What 'surprises' were you referring to, 'Slade'?" Master Kuro asked, sounding like she wanted a good answer.

"Strategically placed explosives. Not enough to cause the base to be written off as lost but enough to convince the tactical droid in charge to pull back his forces to defend it," he replied, trying to let his voice sound confident. "Even if we're long gone by the time they return, the droid'll see the strategic weaknesses we've made in the base and be forced to assign additional forces to make it secure again."

"It will take more than a handful of thermal detonators to compromise the base's security," Master Kuro pointed out, as if daring him to find a solution.

"If they wind up being that sturdy, we'll try to find something in the base to make a bigger blast. Munitions, explosive fuel tanks and stuff like that," he said after a moment's thought about what they'd find in the base. "It might take a bit more work but I'm sure we can manage."

"Let us hope that is true," Master Kuro said with a nod of consent towards the operation.

 _Here's hoping we'll have a little more than hope to see us through,_ he thought as he walked back up the boarding ramp into the Stellar Envoy.

 _ **Hours Later**_

 _ **Rreya's POV**_

"That is a lot of droids," she said as she looked down at the base. "A lot of firepower."

"Good thing we won't be taking the direct approach," Xander said from a kneeling position on the edge of a cliff overlooking the base.

Indeed, a direct assault on the droid forces would be suicide with their small numbers. If they had a platoon or two of clone troopers backing them up it might have been possible but they didn't, so they'd have to make do with what they had. Looking down at the base, she spotted three droid AATs positioned around the perimeter with a squad attached to each for support comprised of normal battle droids and super battle droids. At each corner of the base's wall there was a single J-1 proton cannon and on the points of each wall were watchtowers with searchlights and two droids, one of which looked to be armed with a sniper rifle. A bit more precise than she was expecting but she took heart in the fact that the artificial being's proficiency with the weapon was probably about the same as with the standard issue blaster rifle most battle droids were armed with. From what was visible inside the walls there were three battle droid patrols walking at a casual pace outside the buildings, with probably more inside the structures themselves.

"So what's the plan?" she asked, hoping this wasn't one of Xander's make-it-up-as-I-go-along plans.

"Erica, you're on overwatch. Keep tabs on us from up here and eliminate any droids that get too close to discovering us," Xander said, looking at the HRD.

"Won't that let them know they're under attack?" she asked, knowing that any blaster fire was easy to spot especially at night.

"Not with this rifle," Erica said unslinging it from her back and working an unfamiliar mechanism on it.

Looking at it she had to admit that it didn't look like any sniper rifle she'd ever seen before. In fact it didn't seem to possess any of the usual additions that were staples of blaster weapon technology so how…

"A slugthrower!?" she exclaimed almost too loudly. "What the Force is she supposed to do with that? It'll never get through droid armor."

"Not if it was a conventional slugthrower. The projectiles are made of Duralloy, the same stuff used in reinforced bunkers, and will be propelled by a micro-electromagnetic generator," Erica replied, pointing at the sole technologically advanced component of the weapon. "No sound, no flash and a projectile strong enough as well as fast enough to punch through droid armor."

"Crude but effective," Master Kuro said with a nod of approval.

"We'll wait for the best gap in the perimeter patrols that we're likely to get," Xander said, sounding more like he'd put some thought into the operation. "Then we slip past both them and the searchlights before leaping over the wall. Once inside we conceal ourselves in the nearest blindspots in their security or an empty building. Once we're sure it's safe we'll make our way to that building since it's likely the C&C and THAT is where we'll find their database. Once inside we will crack the system, copy the intel and then leave before slipping back out."

"And your surprises?" Master Kuro asked, no doubt wondering when that part of the plan was going to come into play.

"We'll plant them both on the way in as well as on the way out. Their munitions shed and fuel depot should add bang enough to knock a hole in their walls but still leave the base salvageable enough that the droid in charge won't abandon it," Xander said, pointing out the two locations inside the wall. "That'll draw off the heat from Jedi Master Di and General Syndulla's forces since repairs will take a while and security will logically be reinforced to compensate for the damage."

"Assuming it doesn't wind up making the droids call in for additional forces making things even harder for the Twi'leks and the troopers," she pointed out, not wanting important possibilities to be overlooked.

"The Separatists have an entire planet to pacify and occupy," Xander said, not sounding worried about the possible scenario. "One droid base getting hit won't bring the entire occupation force down on them. At most two tanks and maybe another platoon of battle droids would be sent to reinforce the position."

"Difficult but not impossible for Master Di to handle," Master Kuro said before narrowing her eyes. "We will follow your lead, Mister Ordo. I pray this does not prove to be a mistake."

A nod was all the Dark Woman got in response before the entire group focused on the patrols circling the perimeter, as well as the movement patterns of the searchlights. The movements of both were machine precise but what could one expect from droids? But this worked to their advantage since it made sure that the gaps between them all would remain constant. Tensely she waited for the signal to move and, just as she was about to fidget for the first time, Xander gave the go ahead. As one they dropped down from their lookout spot, using either the Force or cables to descend to the ground below, and once they landed they moved swiftly, silently, towards the outer wall of the base. Adjustments were made en route in order to ensure that they did not expose themselves to either optics or searchlights but, when her back was up against the wall with nary an alarm to be heard, she took it as a good sign.

Seeing Xander give the 'hold position' signal, she watched as he fired the grapple line towards the top of the wall and, once it was secure, he was pulled up slowly by the retraction mechanism the line was attached to. This was a sound move since fast moving objects tended to attract attention more than slow movements and, once he came within a foot or two of the top he came to a stop. It was easy to deduce that he intended to peak over the top and see if it was safe for them to cross over. Seconds ticked by and she wondered how long it'd be before one of the outer patrols or searchlights found them. Situations like this were so different from traditional battlefields because, while both had their share of stress, this type was decidedly more intense.

"It's safe. Let's go!" Master Kuro whispered before Force leaping over the top of the wall.

Following the Jedi Master's example she leapt upwards, putting just enough power into it so she could clear the wall without noticeably overshooting the wall. Sarahari was the last to make it over the top due to the lack of Force powers but, as she did so without incident, she didn't comment on it. Once all of them were safely inside the walls they scattered to whatever wall or object was large enough to conceal them from the interior patrols. Sadly there wasn't any one object or wall large enough to conceal a group of four effectively so they'd been forced to split into groups of two. She and Master Kuro hid behind a stack of supply crates while Xander and Sarahari concealed themselves beneath one of the smaller transports parked within the base walls.

Once more he gave the signal to hold their position in addition to one to remain silent but, rather than wonder, she merely waited for the reason to appear. It came in the form of the sounds of a droid patrol, with their clanking feet and nasally digitized voices, marching closer with every passing moment. Listening to the chatter it made her wonder how such dimwitted creations could be giving the Grand Army of the Republic and their assigned Jedi generals such a hard time. Then she remembered the sheer number that could be manufactured before being unleashed on the defenders of the Galactic Republic and conceded that quantity had a quality all its own. Even if the clone troopers were superior fighters, they could not be replaced as swiftly as a battle droid could with their assembly line method of being 'born'. Still, she took some relief from the fact that the ones in command of the droids were flesh and blood, making the dream of winning the war all too possible.

Flesh and blood beings could only die once and, with the Separatists, taking down the ones in charge would bring their entire army to a halt.

Those power hungry pieces of Bantha poodoo would never allow the reigns of control to be in anyone else's hands but their own.

Watching as the patrol went by, she turned to Xander to see him give the universal 'follow me' gesture before the Jedi in Mandalorian armor crept away in the direction of the base's C&C.

If outside was tense, then inside is downright nerve wracking since there was a much smaller margin for error to work with and a much higher chance of being spotted. Every shadow, every object was a potential point of refuge and the only thing in their favor was the fact that the guards weren't being very quiet as they moved about the base. Talking and footsteps gave them ample warning to conceal themselves but the number of places they could hide weren't always… practical. She'd seen more than a few times when Xander and Sarahari had to get quite close in order to ensure that the droids noticed nothing. While the former's state afterwards was impossible to determine without using the Force, the latter was showing subtle signs of being… flustered. It wouldn't be obvious to just anyone, you'd have to have a solid grasp of Catharian body language, but ever since she noticed a way to mess with her friend, she'd done research in that area. The young woman might be doing a good job at keeping emotions masked but good wasn't perfect.

 _This'll make for some juicy ammunition later,_ she thought even as a tiny grin appeared on her face. _Maybe I can make it even juicier with a little careful manipulation._

An opportunity appeared a short while later when they came within eyesight of the C&C building and the only things capable of concealing the four of them being a dumpster with an open lid and what looked to be a roughly coffin-shaped storage container. Even though the storage container was closer, she was quick to hop into the dumpster and waited for Master Kuro to hop in with her since that'd force the female Cathar and Xander into the container. Given that there was barely enough room with the container's lid closed to fit the two of them, gear and all, they'd have to be pressed quite tightly, quite INTIMATELY, against one another. Seeing as how it'd be at least three minutes before the droid patrol was far enough away for them to come out, she expected the cracks in the Catharian's mask to become fissures.

When Master Kuro didn't immediately follow her into the dumpster she began to worry that her plan was about to backfire but relief soon replaced it when the white-haired Jedi Master hopped into the dumpster. A moment later the woman pulled the lid down, leaving them with only an inch of space to see through to monitor the droid patrol's position. However, when the Dark Woman looked at her with suspicion in her eyes and a bit of disapproval, she knew that her ploy had been detected and discerned. Given how professional and mission oriented the senior Jedi on site was, she didn't think she'd get the stern talking to until they were safely back aboard the Stellar Envoy. Fortunately that'd give her plenty of time to fabricate an explanation that would paint her actions as completely innocent and perhaps even beneficial.

Like she was testing Xander's emotional control when placed in close intimate contact with an attractive female humanoid.

Sure, she'd have to make it sound a little more scientific and logical in order to completely eliminate any possibility of fault landing in her lap but she had the experience to pull it off.

She was somewhat infamous for her antics back at the temple, after all.

 _ **Sarahari's POV**_

"I… think they're gone, Slade," she said, trying to keep her voice even despite the… closeness… of the current situation.

For a moment Xander seemed to be listening to something only he could hear, most likely reaching out with the Force, but soon nodded before reaching behind himself to open the container they'd taken refuge in. It was with a gasp of relief and fresh air that she left the container since with the newfound space she could finally bring her thoughts back to where they belonged. It wasn't easy to do so since, with their entry into the base, she had been forced into close contact more than once in order to ensure that the battle droids did not see them. She knew it was innocent, knew that it was merely a tactical move, but the part of her that had been entertaining a… closer… relationship with the Jedi Padawan led to her imagine various possible futures.

Futures that would, could, might contain moments very similar to what they'd experienced while hiding in close quarters from the droid patrols, albeit in more comfortable surroundings and perhaps involving far less clothing.

"C'mon!" Xander whispered to her before making his way towards the C&C structure.

Shaking her head clear of distracting thoughts, she brought forth the discipline that had been instilled in her by her mentors on Cathar during her training to become a warrior. They were in enemy territory and needed to be focused on the task at hand if she was to avoid doing anything that might alert the droids to their presence. Bringing her DC-15 to the ready she followed Xander, keeping her eyes peeled for any sign of imminent droid contact as she moved. Fortunately for her they didn't encounter any further obstacles that required hiding and soon all four of them were outside the entrance to the C&C room ready to enter. It was a bit odd that there hadn't been battle droids guarding the entrance but then again perhaps the person in charge didn't think anyone would manage to penetrate so deep into the base. Whatever the reason, it was time to seize the building and begin extracting the necessary information so they could leave for more friendly territory.

"Blasters set to stun," Xander said as he turned a dial on his blaster rifle. "One shot per target. DON'T miss."

A nod was all she gave as she adjusted the setting on her DC-15 and, when the door was opened, she charged in first, immediately spotting a Trade Federation official. Taking aim she fired the second she had a clear shot and watched as he slumped to the ground unconscious even as the rest of her comrades neutralized the remaining occupants of the room. Before long they were the only ones conscious and moving in the room, leaving them free to do what they had to do.

"Move swiftly. Others will have heard those blaster shots, stun or not," Master Kuro said as she closed the structure's door and took up a defensive position. "You're up, Ordo."

With that Padawan Xander moved to the main console in the room and took a device off of his belt that'd been constructed by Erica. A quick connection by cord to the port on the side and the layers of security programming began to fall away under the assault of the HRD's slicing programs. It took a little over a minute before full access was acquired but, once that was done, files quickly began to transfer to the attached device for storage. Based on what she'd been told, the invention would focus on the most recently created files first before moving onto the older ones. They'd all known from the beginning that they'd never get all the information the base network had access to but they'd grab as much as they could before circumstances forced them to leave.

When the base alarms began to sound loud and clear, she considered it a compelling circumstance to be ready to leave as soon as possible.

"How much longer?" Padawan Rreya asked from her position guarding the other entrance into the building.

"File transfer is at forty-two percent," Xander replied after checking the console for that information. "From what I'm looking at we'd need about ten minutes to get the whole thing."

"With the alarm going we have four at most," Master Kuro said as she seemed to listen to something. "Then we'll be surrounded by droids who'll likely obliterate this structure before they'll let us leave."

"Let's hope it's enough," Xander said as the progress bar on the main console's view screen slowly advanced.

With the situation explained she prepared herself for the assault to come even as she changed the settings on her DC-15 to kill rather than stun. Now that the droid forces knew that they were there, the organic residents would definitely be moving themselves to the rear of their army of killing machines. That meant, if they were going to fight their way free, they'd have to scrap every last clanker between them and freedom and that couldn't be done with the stun setting. However it was three minutes later when the screen dramatically changed and, based on what she could read, it looked like the console's connection to the battle net had been severed.

"Damn!" Xander said even as he removed Erica's device from its position and put it back on his belt. "They cut the connection and shut me down. At best we've got sixty-five percent of what we could've gotten."

"It'll have to be enough," Master Kuro said as she advanced towards the door. "Let's go."

Weapons raised, they rushed out door, hoping to catch any droids waiting by surprise and it was partially effective since they were all able to exit the structure before the incoming blasterfire started heading their way. As soon as she had a clear line of sight on a droid she opened fire and thankfully her practice at the target range of the Naboo volunteer security force paid off. While not one hundred percent accurate, enough of her shots succeeded in hitting a vital parts of the battle droid, causing it to go offline immediately. As she looked around, she saw that the layout of the base actually worked in their favor since the structures limited the approach routes the droids could use and weren't tank friendly. That didn't mean that the heavy artillery wouldn't be forthcoming, it just meant that there'd be limits to how they could move and thus aim their deadly barrels.

Not that she believed for a moment that Xander would direct them to challenge the droid tanks because that would be complete suicide, even with Master Kuro and Padawan Rreya present.

As a group they began to move towards the wall they'd used to get into the base but it was difficult since they had to dive behind cover from time to time in order to protect themselves. For a moment she thought that they'd bitten off a little more than they could chew when out of nowhere one of the droids developed a gaping jagged hole where its head used to be. As it fell over a super battle droid developed a similar hole, albeit smaller and with no exit 'wound', but the end result was the same as the mechanical murderer dropped to the ground. It took a third time of this happening before the assembled droids began to fall into chaos as they tried to figure out where the attacks were coming from. She and her comrades took full advantage of this as they began to carve a path through the crowd of droids to their escape point. It wouldn't last forever since she figured that sooner rather than later the commanding officer of the base would order the droids to divide their forces between Erica and the interior of the base.

When that happened the pressure that'd been so recently removed would be back on them, making their departure more difficult.

"Time to see if we can't speed up our exit plans," Xander said as he plucked a thermal detonator from his belt, armed it and then threw it somewhere off to the northwest.

With explosive force almost enough to cause the group to stumble, an explosion much bigger than should've been possible for a thermal detonator rocked the base. Those droids that were closer to the point of detonation were knocked clear off their feet, with those that were hit by flying shrapnel going offline. Another thrown detonator and an explosion that seemed to have more to do with fire than shockwave occurred, threatening to spread to the rest of the base. With these introduced factors the droids had more than one thing to worry about and the amount of trouble went down accordingly for the group trying to vacate enemy territory. It was with the final two thermal detonators that the wall she'd been expecting to climb over was brought down, leaving them a nice little gap to run through.

"I think that will be quite enough, Slade," Master Kuro said as they ran for the hole in the wall. "Any more damage and it's all but certain that this location will be abandoned in favor of something stronger."

"Understood, Jedi Master Kuro," Xander said as he put both hands back on his primary weapon.

As they made it outside the base, though, they found themselves face to face with the entirety of the perimeter guard and with the tanks present… well, her confidence dropped and she began to consider the most honorable way to die in battle.

Then the unexpected happened.

A downpour of blaster fire began to rain down upon the droids that in no way could've come from Erica alone, and as a result what had looked like a hopeless situation filled up with hope. Before long not a droid or tank remained functional, leaving them free to walk away without a scratch or serious wound on them. It was only a few minutes later when their saviors revealed themselves as the joint clone trooper and Twi'lek resistance force that they'd launched this operation to aid. Why they had come to aid them she didn't know but she was grateful nonetheless since the hope that her group would succeed in returning to the Envoy alive had been virtually nonexistent beforehand.

Had they come of their own volition to act as back up or had Erica called them in when she saw the droids massing to crush them?

 _We'll probably find out soon enough,_ she thought as she holstered her blaster. _For now it's over._

 _ **Clone/Twi'lek Resistance Camp**_

 _ **A Little Over an Hour Later**_

 _ **Xander's POV**_

"Here's all the data we were able to acquire from the droid base's network," he said as he passed the device Erica had made to General Syndulla. "Hopefully you'll get some use out of it."

"I'm sure it will be quite useful," the leader of the Twi'lek resistance said as he took possession of the device. "Thank you, Slade Ordo."

A nod was all he gave in return since saying any more might've made him appear a little too chatty, ruining the 'soldier for hire' image he needed to maintain.

"How are the droid forces reacting to our attack?" Master Kuro asked from the bottom of the boarding ramp of the Stellar Envoy.

"Much as you had planned. The droids have withdrawn much of their forces in order to reinforce the defenses of the base," Syndulla replied, turning to his Master. "We can use this time to reinforce our defenses and keep them off balance until the Republic can bring the remainder of the supplies."

"And they will. I have little doubt that a plan is on the works as we speak to get larger shipments past the Separatist blockade," Master Kuro said with confidence she clearly wanted to pass on to the Twi'lek male.

"I truly hope that is the case, Jedi," Syndulla said with all due grimness. "While the supplies you have provided will sustain our counter offensive against the Separatists for a time, the rest of Ryloth suffers."

"Many worlds suffer at the hands of the Separatists, either because they're under assault or have already fallen and are made to work to support the war effort," Master Kuro pointed out so as to prevent any sympathy fishing trips. "Nevertheless, I will report what I have seen here to the Jedi Council and recommend that Ryloth's liberation be made a priority of the Grand Army of the Republic."

"Thank you, Master Jedi," Syndulla said with a half bow of respect. "I hope that they listen to you."

With that the Twi'lek general turned to tend to the needs of his people and no doubt examine the contents of the device used to hack the CIS battle net. With luck it would provide enough useful intel that the Twi'leks would be able to turn things around as far as the resistance was concerned and help pave the way for the clone troopers to kick the droid army's tin-plated butts off Ryloth. He knew it was overly optimistic for the battle for the planet to occur soon, there were many worlds in need of rescuing after all, but if he recalled correctly, Senator Orn Free Taa had some pull with Chancellor Palpatine. Perhaps if he managed to speak with the senator and worked with him, some headway could be made to bump Ryloth up the list of worlds set up for imminent liberation.

It was something to think about on their trip back to Coruscant.

Once General Syndulla was out of earshot, Master Kuro's demeanor changed as she turned to address Master Di.

"How bad is it?" Kuro asked, obviously wanting a blunt estimation of Ryloth's status, as well as the resistance's strength.

"It is much as you see here, Master Kuro," Master Di said, gesturing to the collection of clone troopers and armed Twi'leks. "The invasion happened swiftly and cut us off from any established places where a strong defense could be constructed. We've been reduced to living in the wilds of Ryloth, using natural geological formations to protect ourselves while limiting the avenues of approach available to the droid army. Sadly, without air support of any kind and only limited infantry weapons, all we've been able to manage is to slow their advance, inconvenience them, as they continue to plunder the planet of anything valuable."

"Sadly you must continue to do so until the Republic launches its campaign to liberate the planet," Kuro said with a concerned tone of voice. "With such limitations in numbers and firepower, anything more ambitious would be far too risky."

"Indeed. There have been instances where the Separatists have been particularly cruel with the people and Syndulla has been outraged enough to launch an all-out attack on the droid armies. I have managed to persuade him not to each time but it is becoming increasingly difficult," Master Di said, echoing her concerned tone. "If the Republic doesn't take action to free Ryloth soon, I fear he will take more drastic actions to satisfy both himself as well as his people."

"Do your best, Master Di," Master Kuro said with conviction. "As I will do upon returning to Coruscant."

"May the Force be with you, Master Kuro." Master Di said with a formal Jedi bow.

"And also with you, Master Di," Kuro said, matching his bow with one of her own.

With that the crew of the Stellar Envoy boarded their ship and a few minutes later were once again airborne, heading for space. As they began their climb he had to wonder what the response of the blockade would be this time since all they had sent the first time was a token force of Vulture droid fighters. Would they send more to shoot down any ship attempting to leave the planet? He didn't think so, considering the limited carrying capacity of the Stellar Envoy and its lack of official Republic markings. A tactical droid would choose a measured response based on existing technical specifications of the light freighter sending only enough fighters to tactically ensure the target's destruction. One of the organic commanders would likely see the ship as unworthy of committing a sizeable attack force given their probable overconfidence in their military might. So long as Jadak's skills continued to live up to the man's boasting, he was confident that they'd be able to make it to hyperspace without any real danger coming their way.

"Well, if it's all the same to the rest of you, I'm gonna get out of this armor and slip into something a little more comfortable," he said as he took off his helmet, shaking his head a bit to get rid of his helmet hair.

"Good idea," Erica said, sounding in favor of his course of action. "I need to make a few adjustments to the armor to make it compatible with the jet pack we found in Boorka's vault. While most of the fundamental technology has remained the same since the time of the Old Republic, there've been enough improvements that some customizations need to be made."

"Once you've made these adjustments, it'll be combat ready?" he asked, sounding hopeful about his future flying options.

"Assuming all my diagnostics come back green afterwards, yes," she replied, sounding confident that everything'd would work according to her designs.

"Just remember to get some practice in before you go flying around the galaxy," Rreya said as he moved to change into his Jedi robes. "You need to at least LOOK like you've mastered it."

"Yeah, yeah!" he said, halfheartedly waving back at the crimson Twi'lek.

It was the usual banter that kept their friendship strong, so he didn't take it personally.

Walking along the decidedly more spacious halls of the ship, he wondered if he'd get enough spare time back at the Temple to get some lightsaber training in. There hadn't been much of a pause between their efforts to find the son of Jabba, looting Boorka's vault, him getting his new lightsabers and ferrying the supplies to Ryloth. Like any new possession he wanted to get a feel for them, to fully make them his own, but he couldn't do that so long as he was working as 'Slade Ordo'. There wasn't near enough room in the Envoy to get any decent sparring done without risking damage to the ship and Ordo couldn't be seen wielding lightsabers by the Separatists. If he wound up getting some missions as Padawan Xander instead, he could get both training in from Master Kuro AND some field experience fighting droids with them.

 _No sense wondering about stuff I don't have control over,_ he thought as he reached his team's improvised quarters and picked up his Jedi clothes. _Spies don't decide where they go. The higher ups do._

Heading towards the refresher, the one place he could change in privacy aside from the crew quarters, he took three steps before sensing he was being followed.

"Don't you have some modifications to do?" he asked Erica without looking back at the HRD.

"Some of the modifications require getting your measurements; some very PRECISE measurements," Erica said, sounding like she had something sneaky planned.

"Then I'm sure you can use that biometric scanner over there to get it WITHOUT getting into the refresher with me," he said before he slipped inside the small room and shut the door behind him.

CLICK.

 _There. That should keep her out,_ he thought as he set the Jedi clothes down. _No way she'll be able to slice the lock or break in without having quite a few awkward questions to answer._

Then he remembered what the HRD had been designed to do.

He began changing as quickly as he could.

 _ **The Jedi Temple on Coruscant**_

 _ **Days Later**_

 _ **Jedi Master Mace Windu's POV**_

"The time has come for you to get some practice with your new lightsaber, Padawan Xander," he said as he escorted his former student towards the headquarters of Temple Security. "To that end I have asked one of our most skilled wielders to teach you. Jedi Master Jastus Farr."

"I've heard of him," Xander said as they turned right down a new corridor. "Big guy and one of the few Jedi with a dual bladed lightsaber."

"Dual bladed lightsabers are not common because many consider them to be dangerously aggressive in nature and therefore go against the Jedi way," he explained, having a more balanced opinion of the lightsaber variation. "Nevertheless, Master Farr has proven capable of wielding it without any negative side effects."

Indeed, there were teachings within the Jedi Order that were dangerous to teach just anyone and a few that could only be taught with the approval of the Jedi High Council. His own created style of lightsaber combat, Vaapad, was particularly aggressive and dangerous since it led the user dangerously close to the Dark Side due its focus on physical combat. Only he, Master Bulq, Master Billaba and Master Vos had sufficient knowledge of the style to be considered practitioners of Vaapad. Nevertheless, he was very selective with who he chose to instruct in the style and absolutely required that the potential student have advanced emotional control. Those who had too little control would be swallowed up by the aggressive emotions involved and slide towards the Dark Side perhaps to be lost forever. He would be grossly negligent in his duties as a Jedi Master to allow anyone to learn the discipline without first making sure that it would be safe to do so.

In the case of Padawan Xander, he would not consider teaching Vaapad to the boy just yet.

While there did not appear to be any lingering side effects from the young one's brush with the Dark Side on Ord Mantell, the fact that Xander employed it at all made it clear that his emotional control was not strong enough. Indeed, if the report provided was accurate, then all that it would take to make the Padawan lose his control was a situation possessing sufficient stress and morally offensive actions. He was not without sympathy for his former student; witnessing such a brutal means of torture and execution could test even those of the rank of Master, but it didn't change the fact that he still had much to learn as a Jedi.

It was a short while later that the two of them arrived at the headquarters of Temple Security and, upon entering, he saw the usual assortment of members reviewing files or speaking with their various sources across the Republic. In the case of Master Farr, he was in mid-conversation with a Rodian male and seemed to be pressing the green being quite hard.

"C'mon, Fraado!" Farr said, sounding like he was having some difficulty. "You and your brother deal with all the cutting edge slicing tech in the Outer Rim. If anyone's got a new code cracking program that could get them into the Jedi Temple, you two would know about it and who made it."

"C'mon, Jastus! You know how things work out here!" Fraado said, trying to defend his lack of cooperation. "You get too curious, ask too many questions, and you get dead real quick. I'm just a humble businessman selling what everyone out here wants."

"A 'businessman' like you always knows who he's dealing with and where they're operating out of," Farr pressed, sounding like he'd keep it up as long as necessary. "You give me the information I want and I'll see to it that the ban on you working in the core worlds goes away. Whether it stays away depends on how clean you keep your 'business transactions'."

"I'll… I'll see what I can do," Fraado said, sounding like he'd come through with the information after taking some… precautions. "I'll call back tomorrow."

"See that you do," Master Farr said before terminating the connection.

"Problems, Master Farr?" he asked as he arrived at the man's desk.

"Just the usual, Master Windu," Farr replied with the appropriate level of respect. "One of my contacts told me about a plan to invade the temple and he seemed more confident than most that it stood a chance of working. I've been making the rounds of the usual supporters of such operations but haven't found anything of value just yet."

"Keep the Council apprised," he said before making a mental note to keep tabs on the investigation.

"Of course," Master Farr said before turning his gaze to Padawan Xander. "I take it this is Padawan you want me to give pointers to?"

"Yes. This is Padawan Xander," he replied, turning halfway to the young Jedi. "During the time after the Gathering, the Force guided the creation of a most unique lightsaber."

As if to aid in the conversation the young learner held up his creation for Master Farr to see firsthand.

"A most unique design," Farr said as he picked it up to physically inspect. "Most dual bladed lightsabers do not come with the ability to separate in the center."

Watching as the member of Temple security activated the separation mechanism, he admitted that it was something of an odd feature that he could not recall being utilized in recent times. However the more impressive part came when both halves had their blades ignited, revealing one purple blade and one golden blade. Neither were common colors among the Jedi Order, nor were the properties of the crystals responsible for the color of the energy blades. He had read Master Galia's account of what'd happened on Illum but, while the war was ongoing, any investigation into the hidden chamber within the cave system would have to wait.

"A bit too unique but they suit you well, young Padawan," Farr said before deactivating the lightsabers. "Now let's see what I have to work with."

The large, blue skinned Jedi led them to the private training room of the Temple Security force where its members honed their skills. Many of them were like Master Farr in that they employed dual bladed lightsabers but only Farr had sufficient mastery of the weapon to instruct someone else in its proper use.

"Before we try sparring with real lightsabers, we'll be using these practice staffs," Farr said, picking up two from the rack before tossing one to Xander. "Same as the practice lightsabers; completely nonlethal but painful enough to provide incentive against repeating a mistake."

"I remember," Padawan Xander said as he caught the tossed training tool.

Seconds later the weapons were activated and he watched as the two Jedi followed sparring custom before taking up proper combat postures. As an observer, he evaluated both combatants to judge how the match would proceed. Padawan Xander's ready stance was competent enough, given that it was his first time wielding a staff weapon, but there were clear signs of unfamiliarity and hesitation. On the side of Master Farr, though, were the smooth movements of experience and skill that made it difficult to determine how he would start things off. It was a foregone conclusion that Farr would win the match but there was some question as to how long it'd last. He remembered his own lessons with the Padawan and Master Kuro had kept him apprised of her own progress instructing the young Jedi. Both of them agreed that there was some genuine potential for skill in lightsaber combat in Xander and it was evident to him now more than ever.

In the blink of an eye Farr made the first move, swinging his staff from the right but he could see it as a feint rather than a true attack. For most students they would immediately move to block the attack, only to fall victim to the real attack that would come once the youth's weapon was sufficiently out of position to make blocking it impossible. However time and experience apparently improved the young man's battle sense as he repositioned himself out of the way of the likely impact point of the feint and strengthened the defense on the opposite side. This caused Master Farr to grin somewhat but it also triggered next phase of attacks, each proving to be more skillful than the last and, as a result, hits began to land on Xander. To the boy's credit he didn't let the successful attacks aggravate him emotionally, but rather inspired revisions in tactics as well as the creation of new strategies. Some of the young man's moves were quite cunning for one his age, with one or two succeeding in forcing Farr to take a step back in response. However, as the sparring match reached the seven minute mark, Master Farr executed a quick combination of techniques that ended with the successful disarmament of Padawan Xander.

"Well, I can see that you've taught the Learner well," Farr said as he deactivated his practice staff. "Most of the flaws I see come from lack of experience. That can be solved with sufficient practice and skilled instruction. However… with the war being what it is, there's bound to be interruptions in the lessons with one or both of us needing to be elsewhere."

"Then perhaps a condensed curriculum might be more appropriate," he proposed, conceding that all Jedi had responsibilities outside the Temple that could not be ignored. "The difficulty would be substantial but it would get the desired results."

"Is there a reason you want such accelerated progress?" Farr asked with a bit of curiosity in his voice.

"As ruled by Chancellor Palpatine, many clone battalions are led by Jedi of the rank of Knight or Master. However the Order has never been and will likely never be at full strength due to the many problems of the Republic," he replied as he explained his position. "As a result we have been forced to assign Padawans to appropriate knights and masters sooner than we would normally. Strengthening Padawan Xander in the use of his lightsabers is a necessary step in order to ensure that he is not unprepared for the trials ahead."

"I'm ready to do whatever I have to to do my part in the war, Master Farr," Padawan Xander said, showing his resolve on the matter.

"I'll hold you to that, Padawan," Master Farr said with implications that could not be mistaken. "How long until the Padawan's next mission?"

"Master Kuro's team will be assigned other duties for the next two weeks. That is the most time that can be spared before the Padawan will need to return to the frontlines," he replied, leaving out the fact that it'd likely be a return to the role of 'Slade Ordo' as well.

While he had the utmost faith in every member of the Jedi Order, Dooku's fall to the Dark Side proved that the risk existed. Indeed, with the traumas and difficulties of the war against the Confederacy of Independent systems, every Jedi would have their beliefs put to the test. With this being the case, precautions had to be taken in order to minimize the potential damage that could be caused by one of their own turning to the Dark Side and joining Dooku. While he had suspicions that that it would not take Dooku long to deduce the truth of Xander's dual identities, he could not risk it happening as a result of one of the Order delivering it to the Separatist leader in person. Thus only the Jedi High Council and Xander's team knew the truth of his alias and he had already ordered them not to share this with anyone else without Council permission.

"I will reassign my cases to another, then," Farr said, accepting the time limit he'd been given. "Come back in an hour, Padawan. Your 'condensed curriculum' will start then."

"As you wish, Master Farr," Xander said with a bow before turning to tend to whatever loose ends he needed to.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Master Windu," Farr said after the Padawan was well out of earshot.

"So do I, Master Farr," he said, acknowledging the risks involved in such intense training. "So do I."


End file.
